<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffee Shop Talk - Resilience Package dwarfed by bank </TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">opinmind <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">1:46 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>20382.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Resilience Package dwarfed by bank investments
Singapore’s Resilience Package is a bold, welcome measure to stimulate the economy. But I couldn’t resist noting the day it was announced:
But the 20.5 billion Singapore dollar ($13.7 billion) Resilience Package falls billions short of Singapore’s total investments in the troubled banking giants, Citigroup and UBS.
Bloomberg now reports: Singapore’s state-owned funds invested about $24 billion in UBS, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in the past 14 months.
In other words, Singapore invested more in the three foreign banks than it has to stimulate its own economy!
The Resilience Package adds up to just about 57 percent of the total investments in UBS, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
This follows last year's pattern.
Last year, when Singapore had a budget surplus of 6.4 billion Singapore dollars, people received 1.8 billion Singapore dollars in education grants, Medisave top-ups, income tax rebates and other benefits.
Citigroup received more than five times as much from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), which agreed to invest $6.9 billion for a 4 percent stake in the troubled banking giant.
Citigroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch were all in trouble when the Singapore funds invested in them.
Temasek Holdings bought shares in Merrill Lynch when it was considered too risky by Bank of America. The New York Times reported in October last year a month after Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch:
Bank of America had considered purchasing Merrill some 10 months ago but found its mortgage exposure too unpredictable.
We know the Singapore funds bought stakes in Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS as long-term investments.
Temasek and GIC don’t have to explain their decisions – they are not publicly traded.
GIC reports to its board of directors, which includes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Temasek’s CEO is the Prime Minster’s wife, Madam Ho Ching, who has been praised by Time and the International Herald Tribune and was the eighth most powerful woman in the business world according to Forbes last year.
Both the funds have been consistently profitable, so they must be in good hands.
One may feel curious about how GIC operates since it manages Singapore’s foreign reserves.
But it insists on secrecy to avoid tipping off its competitors.
So while laws have to be debated in parliament and the government has to seek the President’s approval before dipping into Singapore’s official reserves – which it did for the first time this year to fund the Resilience Package – secrecy surrounds how Singapore’s foreign reserves are invested. It’s public money kept outside public knowledge. GIC doesn’t disclose the size of its portfolio or even name all the companies it has invested in.
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Singapore’s Resilience Package is a bold, welcome measure to stimulate the economy. But I couldn’t resist noting the day it was announced:
But the 20.5 billion Singapore dollar ($13.7 billion) Resilience Package falls billions short of Singapore’s total investments in the troubled banking giants, Citigroup and UBS.
Bloomberg now reports: Singapore’s state-owned funds invested about $24 billion in UBS, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in the past 14 months.
In other words, Singapore invested more in the three foreign banks than it has to stimulate its own economy!
The Resilience Package adds up to just about 57 percent of the total investments in UBS, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
This follows last year's pattern.
Last year, when Singapore had a budget surplus of 6.4 billion Singapore dollars, people received 1.8 billion Singapore dollars in education grants, Medisave top-ups, income tax rebates and other benefits.
Citigroup received more than five times as much from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), which agreed to invest $6.9 billion for a 4 percent stake in the troubled banking giant.
Citigroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch were all in trouble when the Singapore funds invested in them.
Temasek Holdings bought shares in Merrill Lynch when it was considered too risky by Bank of America. The New York Times reported in October last year a month after Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch:
Bank of America had considered purchasing Merrill some 10 months ago but found its mortgage exposure too unpredictable.
We know the Singapore funds bought stakes in Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS as long-term investments.
Temasek and GIC don’t have to explain their decisions – they are not publicly traded.
GIC reports to its board of directors, which includes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Temasek’s CEO is the Prime Minster’s wife, Madam Ho Ching, who has been praised by Time and the International Herald Tribune and was the eighth most powerful woman in the business world according to Forbes last year.
Both the funds have been consistently profitable, so they must be in good hands.
One may feel curious about how GIC operates since it manages Singapore’s foreign reserves.
But it insists on secrecy to avoid tipping off its competitors.
So while laws have to be debated in parliament and the government has to seek the President’s approval before dipping into Singapore’s official reserves – which it did for the first time this year to fund the Resilience Package – secrecy surrounds how Singapore’s foreign reserves are invested. It’s public money kept outside public knowledge. GIC doesn’t disclose the size of its portfolio or even name all the companies it has invested in.
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