SWF Update

khunking · Apr 22, 2010

Singapore Shipping Report Q2 2010 - New Market Report Published

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Singapore Shipping Report Q2 2010 - New Market Report Published

New report provides detailed analysis of the Logistics market

by Press Office

LONDON, ENGLAND -- (Companiesandmarkets.com and OfficialWire) -- 04/22/10 -- <TABLE style="WIDTH: 250px; FLOAT: left" border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">

</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The quarter has been marked by the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) publishing its 2009 results. The company posted a US$741mn net loss for the period with revenues falling by 30% over the year. While cargo volumes on major trade lanes are increasing, low freight rates and rising fuel costs appear to have weighed on the carrier's financial performance. NOL's 2009 loss compares with net profit of US$81mn reported in 2008. The company's total revenues fell to US$6.52bn from US$9.29bn recorded in 2008. Much of the loss was sustained by the company's core container shipping business, which is managed by American Pacific Lines (APL).

The continued fall in freight rates earned by the company suggests that conditions within the container shipping sector are far from improving. APL has a heavy focus on the Asia-US market which has left it highly exposed to a sharp decline in US consumer demand over the downturn. While there are signs from the Singapore's port sector that container volumes are slowly improving, so far, this has not led to the recovery in freight rates that many would have hoped. And while some recovery in freight rates is expected over 2010, our shipping desk believes transpacific container trade will remain weak in 2010. Nevertheless, in the Q210 Singapore Shipping Report we forecast an upturn in the country's maritime sector, as trade volumes look set to begin to recover from the downturn of 2009. Imports and exports are expected to increase by 12.5% and 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) respectively in 2010, and this will have a knock-on effect at the country's ports, as cargo volumes passing through the ports increase. Our shipping team forecasts that Singapore's main port, the port of Singapore, will experience a projected y-o-y throughput growth in total tonnage of 8.5%, while container volumes are expected to increase by 8.3% in 2010.

This is a considerable improvement on 2009 throughput at the port, which due to the downturn in global trade volumes and the decline of Singapore's total trade by 11.6% saw the port of Singapore's total tonnage fall by 8.4% to 472.3mn tonnes and the facility's container throughput volumes fall by 13.5% to 25.87mn twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Our Q210 Singapore Shipping Report not only analyses the environment in the Singaporean shipping market in 2010, but looks at developments going forward into the mid term (2011-2014) and considers whether the country's trade volumes will increase adequately to allow Singapore's ports to reclaim their pre-downturn throughput levels.

The report also contains an in-depth analysis of Singapore's main port, the port of Singapore. We offer an overview of the port's infrastructure, and consider whether it will be able to cope with cargo growth or whether congestion could become an issue. The port's expansion and development plans are also reviewed, along with the facility's links to the rest of the country's freight transport.

The Q210 Singapore Shipping Report contains detailed company overviews of the top 11 global container lines. Our shipping desk has prepared an analysis of these companies' varying downturn strategies, and we offer our views and predictions on what 2010 holds for these lines.

Singapore Shipping Report Q2 2010: http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/r.ashx?id=UU3YIB1P1283763&prk=cf0d6d87edb8bc02d320c5a9b889d82d
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khunking · Apr 24, 2010

How Hassan Nemazee duped the world’s biggest banks

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD>Bloomberg Specials

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Written by Kambiz Foroohar & David Glovin / Bloomberg Markets </TD></TR><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top>Sunday, 25 April 2010 16:56

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The star political fundraiser used his Harvard links to scam Bank of America, Citibank and HSBC out of $292 million.

On the evening of March 13, 2007, limousines lined up outside the Cipriani restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Inside, Hassan Nemazee, surrounded by New York’s deep-pocketed donors, was orchestrating one of the year’s major fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. As guests dined on steak and beet salad, Nemazee introduced the senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Harvard-educated Nemazee, a scion of one of Iran’s wealthiest families, helped raise more than $500,000 that night.
Three years later, on March 18, Nemazee stood in a federal courthouse 3 kilometers away and confessed to a 12-year scheme to defraud banks of $292 million, Bloomberg Markets reports in its May issue. He faces up to 19-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to three bank fraud charges and one wire fraud charge. He must report to jail on April 30 and will be sentenced on June 30.
“He certainly has had an extremely successful fraud up to now,” US District Judge Sidney Stein said during the plea.
The man whom President Clinton had nominated to be US ambassador to Argentina and who’d brought in at least $2.4 million over 15 years for Democratic luminaries, including President Barack Obama and Vice President Al Gore, was remorseful and somber.
“I’m deeply ashamed of my conduct,” Nemazee, 60, told the judge.
Nemazee’s downfall stunned New York’s fundraising community.
“It was a complete shock,” says Alan Patricof, managing director at New York venture capital firm Greycroft Partners LLC. “Some of us still wish that we will wake up one day and it’ll all go away.”

For Nemazee, whose family last summer was relaxing on his estate in Katonah, New York, the reversal was swift.
On August 23, as he checked in at Newark Liberty International Airport for a flight to Rome, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents intercepted him. They grilled him about collateral he’d used to secure a $75-million loan from the Citibank unit of Citigroup Inc.
The next day, he borrowed $75 million from HSBC Holdings Plc to pay off the Citibank loan. That only dug him in deeper.
On August 25, Nemazee surrendered to the FBI and was charged with defrauding Citibank by offering as collateral $86 million of US Treasuries that didn’t exist. He also claimed to have an additional $500 million in another account.
Prosecutors added to the charges on September 21, accusing him of stealing hundreds of millions from HSBC and Bank of America Corp. He used the purloined money to juggle the loans and to finance the political donations, charitable contributions and real-estate purchases that made him a fixture in political circles.
Now, Nemazee’s lawyer, Paul Shechtman, says his client is almost wiped out.
“There really is nothing to run with—barely enough to support a family,” Shechtman told the judge.
Assistant US Attorney Daniel Levy said prosecutors have been unable to track down all of the money Nemazee stole.
“We haven’t found substantial millions,” Levy said in court.
Nemazee said he began the fraud when he faced a severe financial crunch in the mid-1990s. He said he intended to repay the banks but couldn’t because his investments went bad.
“The hole that I dug for myself grew larger, and I borrowed more,” he said in court.
The fraud escalated in 2004 when Nemazee became part owner of New York-based investment firm Carret Asset Management LLC with Alan Quasha, a friend from Harvard he’d known for 30 years and who says he became another victim of fraud and deception.
Nemazee was an icon of business success and political influence among Iranian-Americans, says Amir Farman-Farma, managing director at Connexion Capital in London, who says he met him at a party in Scarsdale, New York, in the mid-1980s. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 2004, Nemazee donated money to the Asia Society and the Brain Trauma Foundation.
“No one suspected anything,” Farman-Farma says.
Now, Farman-Farma, Patricof and others are left to wonder what signs they missed. Nemazee’s Harvard pedigree, his generosity and his political hobnobbing created a façade of legitimacy that led people to overlook the possibility of deception.
“Hassan certainly gave me and everybody who knew him the sense that he was absolutely a first-rate individual,” Quasha says.
Nemazee reinforced this masquerade by pretending to be a business success. He owned a Park Avenue duplex and a blue Maserati Quattroporte. He claimed in press releases that his privately held firm, Nemazee Capital Corp., had $3 billion under management—with investments in energy, media and technology.
There were hints that Nemazee wasn’t what he said he was.
“People have blinders on,” says Ken Springer, a former FBI agent and founder of Corporate Resolutions, a New York-based investigative firm. “They ignore the warning signs.” Business partners should have looked at Nemazee’s previous lawsuits and checked his résumé, Springer says.
The banks Nemazee bilked should have known better, says Richard Carnell, a professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York. Even in an era of easy credit, the banks should have exercised normal controls.
“This is an enormous failure of diligence,” says Carnell, a former assistant secretary for financial institutions at the US Treasury. “The banks had an enormous self-interest in verifying the collateral.”
Shirley Norton, a spokeswoman for Bank of America; Juanita Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for HSBC; and Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, declined to co mment.

Nemazee’s case is one of several scams that have rocked banks during the past 15 years. Ponzi scheme artist Bernard Madoff, now serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison, took Spain’s Banco Santander SA for $3.2 billion, while in 2008 Jerome Kerviel is alleged to have lost €4.9 billion ($6.7 billion) making unauthorized trades at Paris-based Société Générale SA. He is scheduled to go on trial in June for abuse of trust and faking documents to cover up his trades. He denies the charges.
Nemazee’s arrest was another political fundraising embarrassment. In September 2009, Norman Hsu, a Hong Kong-born businessman who brought in more than $800,000 for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid, was sentenced to 24 years in jail after he was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $20 million.
Chris Lehane, who worked on Bill Clinton’s campaigns, says politicians don’t have the resources to fully vet every donor.
“A candidate has hundreds of people who are raising funds, so you’re just doing a basic check,” he says.
Nemazee, the son of an Iranian diplomat, philanthropist and businessman, grew up among the political elite, says Harvard friend and one-time business partner J.C. Helms.
Nemazee was born in Washington, where his father, Mohammed Nemazee, was a commercial attaché during World War II, Hassan wrote in a résumé in the mid-1970s. Every Sunday, the family living room was a lively salon where government officials dissected current events, Helms says Nemazee told him.
The Nemazees ran shipping, trading and manufacturing businesses in Iran, Hong Kong, India and Singapore.
“They were the Rockefellers or Carnegies of Iran,” says Ehsan Yarshater, director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University.
The family was known for its charitable giving. In 1953, Nemazee’s father opened the Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, 570 miles south of Tehran, Yarshater says. The 250-bed facility was among the Middle East’s most advanced at the time.
Mohammed Nemazee’s influence extended to the palace of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He served as a cabinet minister from 1953 to 1955; another family member was a senator. Nemazee left the cabinet in 1956 and returned to Washington to resume his commercial attaché post. He went back to Iran in 1962 and died in April 1972 just weeks before Hassan graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Armed with his Ivy League credentials, Hassan moved to Iran as family patriarch the same year. The US and Iran were close allies at the time, and the Shah encouraged Americans to help modernize his country.
Nemazee became friendly with former American International Group Inc. chairman Hank Greenberg and started an insurance company in partnership with AIG, according to Helms. He formed a construction company and teamed up with Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, a predecessor of JPMorgan Chase & Co., to establish a bank, Nemazee wrote in his résumé.
“He would utilize his position as an Iranian with quite a bit of money to smooth the way for a Western partner,” says Helms, who joined Nemazee in Tehran in the mid-1970s to work on joint ventures. “He had access.”
Nemazee was loyal to his friends, says C. Gregg Petersmeyer, another Harvard classmate who arrived in Tehran soon after graduation, sick from salmonella poisoning after trekking through South Asia.
“He took me in,” says Petersmeyer, 60, who now runs Personal Pathways LLC, an Internet company that helps employees collaborate on charitable projects. Nemazee gave Petersmeyer a plane ticket from Tehran to Shiraz, where doctors at Nemazee Hospital were waiting.
“He said, ‘You need to be examined,’” Petersmeyer says. “That was a remarkable gesture.”

Nemazee’s days of holding sway in Iran ended with the 1979 Revolution. In January, a month before Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ousted the Shah, Nemazee left on a business trip. He never returned. His companies were taken over by the new regime.
“I lost everything that I had in Iran,” Nemazee testified in a 2004 court deposition.
Friends and acquaintances, though, assumed Nemazee had secreted a fortune out of the country. He began a new career in the US, acquiring land in Houston and forming HN Properties Ltd., a real-estate partnership with Helms.
The two hired architect I.M. Pei to design a 28,000-square-meter office tower in the city. It wasn’t long before tensions erupted. Helms sued Nemazee in 1982 for pocketing their profits and refusing to bankroll the partnership as promised.
“He tried to cheat me,” Helms says, a claim Nemazee denied. Nemazee later paid Helms $2 million to settle the case, Helms says.
In 1987, Nemazee set up money management firm First Capital Partners Inc. with Gerardo Angulo, a Harvard Business School graduate who’d worked for a partnership run by arbitrageur Ivan Boesky. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for filing a false statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 1987. Angulo wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.
Nemazee and Angulo attracted pension funds, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Calpers pulled its money in 1993, Angulo testified in a 1996 suit against Nemazee.
Even then, there were signs of financial distress. Angulo, who didn’t return calls regarding this story, testified in the 1996 lawsuit that he asked Nemazee on three separate occasions to give him $100,000 to cover shortfalls at Puerto Rico’s San Juan Star newspaper, First Capital’s chief asset, purchased in 1993 for $6 million.
“He said he was tight on cash,” Angulo testified, and Nemazee failed to come up with the money.
Nemazee sued Angulo in 1996 after demanding that Angulo buy his stake in New York-based First Capital for $10 million. A judge dissolved the partnership and ordered Angulo to pay just $900,000.
Nemazee appealed and lost in May 1998. He began committing his bank fraud that same month, according to the indictment. NationsBank of Texas, which later merged into Bank of America, agreed to lend him as much as $3.5 million, the indictment says. He falsely told the bank that he owned $118 million in securities, prosecutors say.
By then, Nemazee had started making a name for himself in political circles. In 1994 and 1995, he gave $100,000 to the Democratic Party and more to individuals, including the late Senator Edward Kennedy, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His largesse paid off in November 1995: He was invited to the White House for coffee with Bill Clinton.
“The president would call Hassan and say, ‘Help me here, help me there,’” says Akbar Ghahary, a Nemazee friend and chairman of Safas Corp., a Clifton, New Jersey-based maker of countertops.
Three years later, after Nemazee had donated thousands of dollars more to the Democratic Party, Clinton nominated him as ambassador to Argentina. After Forbes magazine disclosed Nemazee’s lawsuits and failed investments in 1999, his nomination didn’t clear the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“He was close to the administration,” says Henry Cisneros, Clinton’s housing secretary from 1993 to 1997, who was pardoned by President Clinton in 2001 after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. Spokespersons for the Clintons declined to comment for this story.
The setback didn’t blunt Nemazee’s ascent as a fundraiser. By 2009, he, his wife and three children had contributed about $900,000—mostly to the Democratic Party—and raised more than $1.5 million more for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Obama.
“He was active in Democratic politics for a long time,” Kerry says.
Nemazee’s Park Avenue apartment was transformed into the political salon he’d known as a child.
“He re-created that life,” Ghahary says. Connexion Capital’s Farman-Farma recalls meeting then Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden at the apartment in 2005. New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Gore and the Clintons also showed up, Ghahary says. Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for Gore, declined to comment. Elizabeth Alexander, a spokeswoman for Biden, didn’t return phone calls or e-mails. Schumer’s office declined to comment.

As Nemazee’s political star rose, his deceptions multiplied. He provided lenders with fake account statements and forged signatures, according to court papers.
He set up a virtual office in January 2004 that used a Manhattan-based answering service to field calls asking about phony account statements he’d created, FBI Agent G. Dalynn Barker said in a criminal complaint.
Anyone who called to verify that Nemazee owned securities that he put up as collateral would reach a phone number he controlled.
His mother, Fakhri Nemazee, died that same year. She had valued her US estate at $5 million to $6 million and left the assets mostly to Nemazee and his three siblings, according to the will on file in Manhattan Probate Court.
The banks’ money started flowing into Nemazee’s pocket in big amounts in 2005. In August, he took the first of what grew into a $74.9 million loan from Citibank, telling the bank he owned $500 million in US Treasuries.
He added a loan of up to $100 million from Bank of America in 2006. He secured it with an account at Westminster Securities Corp., a New York-based broker-dealer that he falsely claimed held $139 million in Treasuries. He repeated the scheme with both banks and used funds from one to repay the other. At one point, he said he owned more than $600 million in securities.
“It was stunning that the banks could fall prey to such a scam,” says Jeanne Schroeder, a commercial law professor at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. Before making a loan backed by collateral, banks usually demand that a borrower transfer the brokerage account with the securities into the bank’s name or require the brokerage to follow the bank’s instructions for holding the securities.
“It’s inconceivable to me that a bank would make a loan thinking it’s relying on investment securities without taking control,” Schroeder says.
The scheme began to unravel on August 7, 2009, when Citibank told Nemazee it wanted to verify his assets, prosecutors say. At first, he said he’d rather repay the loan than cooperate with the bank, according to the August complaint. Citibank grew suspicious and called the FBI—the first time in 10 years any bank was skeptical enough of Nemazee’s collateral to bring in law enforcement.
To pay off Citibank, Nemazee drew $74.9 million from a loan from HSBC, also secured by fictitious Treasuries. At his arrest, he owed $142 million to Bank of America, prosecutors say. HSBC sued him separately for $75 million.
Assets of Westminster, the firm where Nemazee said he held his securities, were taken over in February 2009 by Jersey City, New Jersey-based Hudson Securities Inc. Andrew Lewin, general counsel for Hudson, says Nemazee forged the signature of Westminster’s president on loan documents.
When Hudson acquired Westminster’s assets, Nemazee’s account was empty, Lewin says. Nemazee also created phony statements from Pershing LLC, which he said was custodian of his Westminster account, prosecutors say. Barbara Gallo, a spokeswoman for Pershing, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., declined to comment.
Nemazee fooled the banks in part by submitting forged documents manufactured by his brother-in-law Shahin Kashanchi, prosecutors say. Nemazee paid him $500 on each of eight occasions from 2004 to 2008, according to prosecutors. Kashanchi produced fake quarterly statements from one of Nemazee’s nonexistent collateral accounts, according to a February 3 indictment against Kashanchi.
On April 15, 2009, Kashanchi sent Nemazee a statement, as an e-mail attachment, for a fake account the statement said held $621,914,043 in US Treasuries and $3,976,543 in cash, according to a September 24 complaint.
Nemazee in turn submitted the statement to Citibank. On July 8, Nemazee forwarded an e-mail he got from another person, who isn’t identified in the complaint, with the price and identifying CUSIP number of a Treasury bill, it says.
“I did receive the Treasury numbers,” Kashanchi wrote back, according to the September 24 complaint. “I’m all set and will take care of the statement this weekend.”
When Citibank in August 2009 told Nemazee it wanted to verify his account and that it would contact Pershing for a written confirmation of his collateral, Kashanchi e-mailed Nemazee a piece of fake Pershing letterhead. It listed the virtual office Nemazee set up as Pershing’s address and telephone number, prosecutors say.
“Here is a try,” Kashanchi wrote, according to the complaint. “Compare it to an original if you have it.”
Sabrina Shroff, a public defender representing Kashanchi, says her client didn’t know what Nemazee was up to.
“I have nothing that tells me he took my client into his confidence,” Shroff says. Kashanchi pleaded not guilty to bank fraud on March 1.

Nemazee’s fraud even extended to one of those who thought they knew him best—his Harvard friend Quasha, with whom he shared office space for almost 20 years.
Nemazee invested alongside Quasha’s private-equity firm, Quadrant Management Inc., to buy Carret Asset Management in 2004. Nemazee put up $2.4 million for a 24.9-percent stake, Quasha says. They did four more deals beginning in 2007, according to press releases on Nemazee Capital’s Web site.
In 2008, Nemazee enlisted Quasha to join him on the $100-million Bank of America line of credit. Nemazee could draw on the line only with Quasha’s approval, Quasha says. After Nemazee’s arrest, Quasha says he learned his partner had forged his signature and taken more than $10 million.
“It was inconceivable to me that Hassan could do what he did,” Quasha says. “Hassan was a friend.”
While the indictment and guilty plea shed light on the man who bilked banks and conned politicians, the fact that Nemazee’s closest friends still can’t reconcile his image with his actions shows just how deep the deception ran.
The criminal case is US v. Nemazee, 09-cr-902, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
<HR SIZE=2 width="100%">In Photo: Hassan Nemazee, a top political fundraiser for US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, exits federal court in New York on this March 18, 2010 photo. Nemazee pleaded guilty to federal charges of defrauding Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of America Corp. (Louis Lanzano/Bloomberg)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

khunking · Apr 24, 2010

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=8 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=greytextsmall colSpan=2>Sat, Apr 24, 2010, 11:36 GMT </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f2f4f7 7px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #f2f4f7 7px solid; WIDTH: 100%; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; BORDER-TOP: #f2f4f7 7px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #f2f4f7 7px solid" class=text><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Singapore companies contribute to development of healthcare in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Left to Right Vincent Phang (ST Logistic), Dr Reda Hewehi, Peng Chung Mien, Feroz Siddiqui, Mohammad Sherbini, Rudy Sugiarto (Director of Mach 7), Thoms Riesenberg, Boo Hang Boon (Manager ST Logistics)

Saudi Solutions Provider Medisys Signs Joint Venture with Singapore's Mach 7 Technologies Riyadh, 24 April, Saturday: International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, an agency under the Ministry of Trade & Industry, organised a roundtable involving a delegation of Singapore healthcare companies in Riyadh today. Hosted by Engr. Feroz Siddiqui, who is IE Singapore's Centre Director in Riyadh, the session was a showcase of how international collaboration in both public and private sectors can help to drive developments in the Saudi Arabian healthcare system, bringing about improved efficiency and healthcare services to the Kingdom.

The roundtable included the signing of a joint venture between Medisys and Singapore company, Mach 7 Technologies. Also present were two other Singapore-based companies, ParkwayHealth and ST Logistics who are leaders in Singapore's healthcare value chain. The companies shared their plans in the Kingdom as well.

The roundtable follows a healthcare business mission that was led by IE Singapore at the end of January 2010. The delegation comprised Singapore companies spanning the healthcare value chain, from healthcare service providers, to supporting players in the fields of healthcare technology, training and logistics. The mission allowed Singapore's healthcare players to gain valuable insight into the Saudi Arabian healthcare system and was also a chance for Singaporean and Saudi healthcare players to discuss collaboration opportunities.

Singapore's Relevance to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ranked among the best healthcare systems in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO), Singapore is reputed for its medical excellence, patient-centric services and consistent clinical outcomes. Singapore's healthcare system is also marked by an efficient distribution of resources, with total healthcare expenditure accounting less than 4% of GDP, and public expenditure accounting for only 31.9% of total healthcare expenditure[1].

"Demand for healthcare in the Kingdom is set to continue, driven by the rapidly increasing population and changing disease profile. Singapore companies have a good track record of improving operational efficiency throughout the entire healthcare value chain. As these opportunities present themselves, IE Singapore will continue to actively facilitate win-win partnerships between Singapore and the Kingdom's healthcare companies towards better healthcare services and support for patients in Saudi Arabia," said Mr. Siddiqui.

Joint Venture Signing Between Medisys and Mach 7 Technologies

The joint venture agreement will see Medisys become the distributor of Mach 7 Technologies' PACS-neutral healthcare image management solutions in the Kingdom. The partnership will include a comprehensive training programme for Medisys staff that will be extended to university and research hospitals to develop their bio-informatics capabilities.

Commenting on the decision to appoint Mach 7 Technologies as its medical imaging partner in KSA, Medisys cited Singapore's track record of success as a key factor. "Our strategic goal for image enablement in our Health Management Information System is to create a national medical image archive that can be used by all hospitals and clinics. It is one of the needs we have identified in the Saudi healthcare sector. Mach 7 Technologies has the right product and the right technology solution that ensures we will achieve this outcome," said Mr Mohammad Sherbini, Executive Director, Medisys.

Mr Thomas Riesenberg, CEO and president of Mach 7 Technologies added: "Medisys and Mach 7 Technologies are committed to bringing integrated leading edge solutions that can lead to a strategic image repository in Saudi Arabia to improve clinical care, lower costs, and support clinical research. The synergy between Mach 7 Technologies and Medisys will greatly benefit the Saudi Arabian healthcare market."

ParkwayHealth in talks for projects in KSA
Knowledge sharing and hospital project development and management were also identified as areas where Singapore companies could contribute to the development of the Kingdom's healthcare sector. Dr Reda Hewehi, Marketing Manager for ParkwayHealth in KSA, one of

Singapore's leading hospital groups, said he hopes that this collaborative approach will support the further development of health services in the Kingdom.

ParkwayHealth is currently in active discussions in two areas, namely in the development and subsequent management and operations of hospitals, as well as the provision of education services focused on training healthcare professionals at both hospitals and training institutions in Riyadh and Jeddah. "We hope to work together intensively with local partners and introduce some of our best practices from our network of hospitals and training institutions across Asia. At the same time, we are also keen to learn from our partners; this will hopefully be beneficial to all," explained Dr Hewehi.

ST Logistics: Delivering healthcare to the market

Logistics and ancillary services management such as procurement and stockpiling of medical equipment and medicines are also critical aspects of the healthcare system. Good logistics management setup ensures that frontline healthcare operators have the necessary tools to maintain successful healthcare operations. ST Logistics has a well-established track record in the healthcare sector, having supported Singapore's hospitals and been involved in international humanitarian operations such as the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Its range of services includes procurement, warehousing, supply chain management and healthcare support.

"ST Logistics hopes to exchange best practices with Saudi Arabia's Healthcare organizations in healthcare services & logistics operations. Along the way we wish to identify opportunities to collaborate on new initiatives to enhance the healthcare system for the Kingdom," said Dr. Peng Chung Mien, CEO of ST Medical Services & Executive Vice President of Healthcare Logistics, ST Logistics.

-Ends-

Notes to Editor
Interview opportunities with IE Singapore and speakers are available upon request.

Please use 'IE Singapore' or 'IE' if an acronym for 'International Enterprise Singapore' is required. In addition, unless otherwise stated, the use of statistics cited in our media releases, website or Statlink, should be attributed to IE Singapore.

About International Enterprise Singapore
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry spearheading the development of Singapore's external economic wing.

Our mission is to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade. With a global network in over 30 locations and our 3C framework of assistance - Connections, Competency, Capital, we offer services to help enterprises export, develop business capabilities, find overseas partners and enter new markets. At the same time, we work to position Singapore as a base for foreign businesses to expand into the region in partnership with Singapore-based companies. Please visit www.iesingapore.gov.sg for more information.
IE Singapore has a centre director each based in the Singapore Embassy in Riyadh and in the Singapore Consulate in Jeddah covering the entire kingdom.

Issued by IE Singapore.

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khunking · May 28, 2010

Standard Chartered India Share Offer 84% Unsold

Bloomberg

Standard Chartered India Share Offer 84% Unsold (Update1)

May 28, 2010, 1:15 AM EDT 

By Ruth David

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- With one day left to complete the offer, Standard Chartered Plc has yet to find buyers for 84 percent of $500 million of stock it is selling in India.
The London-based lender that makes at least three quarters of its profit in Asia has received orders for 32.4 million shares as of 10:20 a.m., according to data from the National and Bombay stock exchanges. Standard Chartered is seeking to become the first company to sell Indian depositary receipts.
The four-day sale comes after concern Europe’s credit crisis will spread erased $5.7 trillion from stock markets worldwide this month. Seven managing underwriters may close the deal if they can convince investors that shares trading for 12.3 times projected 2010 profits, the average for banks in the MSCI World Index of 24 developed countries, are worth the risk.
“Volatility is not good for fundraising, but after all it depends on the value,” said Robert Akester, a London-based fund manager who helps oversee $7 billion at Mondrian Investment Partners Ltd’s global emerging market fund. “The fact that it’s an IDR may prevent some funds from buying. Some clients set guidelines not to invest in IDRs because it’s not something they are familiar with.”
Domestic insurance funds are prohibited from taking part in the sale, limiting potential buyers, Prabodh Agrawal, an analyst at India Infoline Ltd. in Singapore, said in a note to clients on May 24. Record stock purchases by insurers helped boost the benchmark Sensitive Index 81 percent in 2009, making it the third-best performing equity market in Asia.
Hong Kong, London
Standard Chartered, which is listed in Hong Kong and London, aims to raise as much as $573 million from the India offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ten IDRs will represent one share of Standard Chartered, the bank said in a filing on May 14.
U.K.-traded shares of Standard Chartered rose 4.4 percent to 1,682 pence yesterday. In Hong Kong, the stock rose 2.8 percent to HK$188.50 as of the midday trading break today.
The bank is offering about 240 million IDRs at 100 rupees to 115 rupees each. It sold 15 percent of the offering to so- called anchor investors including ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. and Reliance Capital Ltd. for 104 rupees a share, according to a regulatory filing this week.
Stocks surged around the world yesterday and the euro snapped a three-day decline against the dollar as China said it remains a long-term investor in Europe, damping concerns that the region’s debt crisis will worsen. Financial shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 1.9 percent on average, giving them the biggest two-day advance since July.
Currency Risk
“There’s still a reasonable chance that the order will be covered by the close,” said Colin McLean, who helps manage 650 million pounds ($944 million) including Standard Chartered stock at SVM Asset Management Ltd. in Edinburgh. “Pressures on the banking sector are easing off.”
Investors may be deterred by regulatory risks tied to Standard Chartered’s global operations and concern about currency fluctuations affecting the IDRs, whose underlying shares are denominated in British pounds, Abhijit Majumder, an analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai, wrote on May 24.
UBS AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JM Financial Services Ltd., Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch & Co., Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., SBI Capital Markets Ltd. and Standard Chartered-STCI Capital Markets Ltd. are managing the sale.
Individuals and employees who bid for 100,000 rupees of shares or less will be eligible for a 5 percent discount on the final price, it said. Retail investors will get up to 30 percent of the issue and employees 2 percent.
Standard Chartered, which counts India as its most profitable overseas market after Hong Kong, and rivals including Credit Suisse Group AG are seeking to win corporate clients in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy. The bank has been in India for more than 150 years.

--With assistance from Pooja Thakur in Mumbai. Editors: Chitra Somayaji, Joost Akkermans
To contact the reporter on this story: Ruth David in Mumbai at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Lagerkranser at [email protected]

khunking · May 28, 2010

UAE to gain from new trade terms

<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="8"><tbody><tr> <td class="greytextsmall" colspan="2">Fri, May 28, 2010, 06:55 GMT </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top"> <table style="border: 7px solid rgb(242, 244, 247); width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;" class="text"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="100%"> UAE to gain from new trade terms

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<table class="text" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="text" valign="top"> Friday, May 28, 2010
Gulf News

Dubai Dubai's economic recovery could be quicker than anticipated, Stephen King chief economist at HSBC Holdings said in Dubai on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at the Capital Club, King said Dubai, currently going through a debt restructuring, will recover relatively quickly due to the rising oil prices and the good infrastructure it has built over the past few years.
Last week the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in its regional outlook that Dubai's debt refinancing challenges are manageable and should be viewed in the context of the global financial crisis.
Dubai's gross domestic product (GDP) represents 33 per cent of the UAE's GDP and 55 per cent of the UAE's non-hydrocarbon GDP. The IIF estimates Dubai's debt at about $107 billion, equivalent to 136 per cent of its GDP while the UAE's a net foreign asset position is projected at $280 billion at end-2009, or about 130 per cent of GDP.
While the IIF has projected a 2 per cent GDP growth for the UAE in 2010 the International Monetary Fund expects it be 1.5 per cent.
"More clarity on Dubai's debt restructuring is going to have its upside on Dubai's growth prospects," said IMF Middle East and Central Asia Director Masoud Ahmad said earlier this week in Dubai.
Economists agree that despite the debt restructuring, Dubai's investments in infrastructure will help its quicker than expected recovery.
"The silver lining Dubai has is that it has built world-class infrastructure with its debts," said Khatija Haque, an economist with Shuaa Capital.
King said the infrastructure funded by the borrowing could help Dubai recover from recession. "The buildings aren't going to be knocked down afterwards, so the market adjusts," he said. "Maybe some people lose their money but after the adjustment phase comes through you sometimes find that the economy can right itself relatively quickly."
King sees a big role for economies such as the UAE, China, and Singapore in the post-crisis economic order. "The rise of state capitalism and vast sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi, China, Singapore and Dubai will likely tip the terms of trade in favour of these newly powerful nations and city states," he said.
Africa deals
Speaking in Dubai about his new book Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity, King pointed out that many Asian and Gulf states are already cutting exclusive deals with African countries to take over vast tracts of land for mining or growing crops to guarantee food security for their own populations.
"We're beginning to see the creation of a new, global Silk Road linking emerging nations in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America via land, sea and the electronic ether," he said.
— With inputs from Bloomberg

By Babu Das Augustine

© Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
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khunking · May 31, 2010

Khazanah Won’t Sell Stake in Parkway

Khazanah Won’t Sell Stake in Parkway, Business Times Reports

Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A

By Soraya Permatasari

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state investment company, won’t sell a stake in Parkway Holdings Ltd. even if Indian shareholder Fortis Healthcare Ltd. makes a counter offer to acquire full control of the Singaporean company, the Business Times reported, citing an unidentified person close to Khazanah.
Khazanah currently owns 23.8 percent of Parkway, while Fortis holds 25.3 percent, according to the newspaper.
Last Updated: May 30, 2010 19:32 EDT

khunking · May 31, 2010

Singapore Set for Broadband Ramp

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escription rdf:about="http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=192618" dc:identifier="http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=192618" dc:title="Singapore Set for Broadband Ramp" trackback:ping="http://www.lightreading.com/trackback/trackback.asp?doc_id=192618" /> </rdf:RDF> --><link rel="pingback" href="http://www.lightreading.com/xmlrpc.asp"> News Analysis More News Analysis

Singapore Set for Broadband Ramp

May 31, 2010 | Paul Rainford | Post a comment
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While the Singapore government is busy plowing its taxpayers’ millions into the nationwide delivery of high-speed fiber access broadband, the real story in the island state might be in the mobile sector, according to a new report from Pyramid Research . (See Singapore Slings for AlcaLu, Huawei.)
The report, "Singapore: Fiber Initiative to Drive Higher Adoption of Broadband and Pay-TV," notes that the state-backed National Broadband Network (NBN) project will undoubtedly enhance the appeal of fixed broadband. To date, broadband takeup in the fixed sector has been slow, partly because of the almost universal availability of free WiFi. (See Singapore Unveils Digital Hub Vision and Singapore Makes FTTH Strides .)
However, the wider availability of large-screen 3G handsets and faster mobile broadband leads the report’s authors, Tae-Hyung Kim and Luís Portela, to predict that 40 percent of Singaporeans will subscribe to mobile broadband by 2014, nearly three times the 2009 figure of 14 percent. Mobile broadband revenue is expected to more than triple, reaching US$188 million by 2014.
The Singaporean mobile market is unusual in that it is divided into two distinct sections: native Singaporeans, who are predominantly on post-paid accounts; and a very large number of migrants, who mostly use pre-paid services. The incumbent operator, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) (OTC: SGTJY), has responded to the recent influx of migrants by offering tempting deals on post-paid tariffs in a bid to shift more of them over to the higher-value packages.
On the fixed-access side, pay-TV looks to be a big growth area, according to the report, especially once all that promised fiber is in place. The report predicts that pay-TV market penetration will reach 89 percent by 2014, up from an already respectable 65 percent in 2009. IPTV could account for 46 percent of the pay-TV connections by 2014.
SingTel, with its mio TV IPTV offering, has recently gained ground on pay-TV market leader StarHub Pte. Ltd. , mainly thanks to a focus on higher-value content. The advent of fiber will also enable MobileOne Ltd. (M1) (Singapore: MONE), the third major market player, to enter the pay-TV fray. (See SingTel Hits 100K for IPTV.)
Things could get moving soon on the mobile TV front as well: The major players tested DVB-H mobile TV in 2008, as did the state broadcaster, MediaCorp. They are now waiting for the Media Development Authority to decide on the final regulations for mobile TV -- and those are due soon.
— Paul Rainford, freelance editor, special to Light Reading

khunking · Jun 2, 2010

Singapore REITS hunt for Aussie property

<title>Print Article: Singapore REITS hunt for Aussie property</title><style type="text/css"> h1 {font-size:24px} p {font-size:14px} p.details {font-size:12px} div.centerWrap {text-align:center} #adSpotIsland {width:300px;float:right;text-align:center} </style><script type="text/javascript" src="http://resources.smh.com.au/smh/2007-11/js/fd.mt.smh.com.au.js"></script><script id="ie_domready" defer="defer" src="javascript<b></b>:void(0)"></script>Singapore REITS hunt for Aussie property

Alison Bell
June 2, 2010 - 6:09PM

A weaker Australian dollar and tight financing conditions for property acquisitions are key risks for Singapore real estate investment trusts (REITS) hunting for Australian commercial properties, Fitch Ratings says.
The global ratings agency on Wednesday said Singapore REITS had expanded their portfolios since October last year on the back of their improved share price performance.
Fitch also said the REITS were on track to achieve more diversified cash flows and better yields on acquisitions.
Recent acquisitions in the Australian hotel, retail and office commercial property sectors would reduce the REITS' reliance on cash flows from Singapore, Fitch REIT team director Peeyush Pallav said in a statement.
Geographic diversification and stronger yields from Australian properties were other benefits, he said.
A nine per cent depreciation in the Australian dollar against the US dollar during May would affect capital values and income streams and increase the REIT's risk profiles, depending upon the sub-sector invested in.
Fitch said uncertainty over obtaining finance for property transactions remained and financing was dominated by the big four banks, while financing for non-prime quality properties held by smaller owners was still difficult to obtain.
However, the ratings agency said the financing window opened in early 2010 allowing prime, well tenanted properties owned by companies at the big end of town with sound bank relationships to receive finance.
Fitch is cautious on the outlook for the Australian property sector, with different locations and sub-sectors likely to deliver varied performance in 2010/11.
A two-year decline in property values for prime commercial property started to slow in the second half of calendar 2009,and asset sales continue to rise, albeit remaining concentrated among properties priced below $50 million.
Office property valuations in Sydney and Melbourne central business districts have stabilised, Fitch said.
Rival ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) in April said Australian REITs were staging a comeback after deleveraging and raising equity to repair fractured balance sheets.
The credit quality of most local REITs is now stable, S&P said.

This story was found at: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...s-hunt-for-aussie-property-20100602-wzhi.html
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khunking · Jun 3, 2010

Temasek document discusses StanChart intentions

Temasek document discusses StanChart intentions (repeat)

By Steven Irvine | 3 June 2010 This is a rerun of a surprising and revealing Temasek document that by mistake found its way into the hands of a few journalists. The document included questions and answers that outlined the government-owned investment agency’s position with regard to its acquisition of the Khoo family’s stake in Standard Chartered and other related issues.

One afternoon in late March 2006 we became aware of a document that erroneously had been sent by Temasek itself to a few journalists in Asia. As noted in the original introduction to the story below, the document included a "guide" on how to answer potential questions related to the firm's acquisition of a stake in Standard Chartered. Our editor at the time, Steven Irvine, decided within minutes that we should publish the entire document on our website. It ended up being our most read story that year.

A Temasek document, entitled "2006-03 Taurus Q&As" -- which was designed to help its executives answer media enquiries on its 12% stake in Standard Chartered -- was yesterday sent as an email attachment to some journalists instead of another file. The document contains 59 questions and answers and was prepared by staff to anticipate questions that might arise from the acquisition. Given that Temasek has rarely done Q&As with the media, the exercise represents a somewhat unique insight into what the Singapore state investment agency currently perceives its perceptional issues are and its own stance on these issues. In what follows we have reproduced the entire Q&A section. It is unedited, except to state in square brackets where answers were left blank:

Q&As

On rationale for investment and plans for Standard Chartered

1. Why have you invested [x] % stake in Standard Chartered? What is Temasek's ultimate objective?

Investing in Standard Chartered is consistent with our focus on Asia and on its financial services sector. Standard Chartered will add to our portfolio of investments, and will be an important part of our portfolio.

We are also impressed with Standard Chartered' Board and professional management team. They have successfully developed a distinctive strategy, delivered a growth record and created shareholder value.

2. How much did you pay for the [x]% stake?

The terms of this transaction are private.

3. Why did you take a [x]% stake and not less?

We evaluate each opportunity on its merits. We are prepared to buy, sell or hold, depending on the relative merits of the various investments and opportunities.

4. Do you intend to take over Standard Chartered/ make a bid?
[Answer left blank]

5. Does Temasek intend to increase its stake in Standard Chartered?

It is not appropriate for us to comment on this. As a financial investor, we keep all our options open and will evaluate each opportunity on its merits.

6. Standard Chartered has always been a potential takeover target. Do you think Temasek's investment in Standard Chartered would trigger a competitive bid for Standard Chartered?

That possibility is a matter for others to evaluate (the merits of a competitive bid).

It is not appropriate for us to comment on this. As a financial investor, we keep all our options open and will evaluate each opportunity on its merits.

7. Do you intend to counter bid if there is a bid by another party?

It is not appropriate for us to comment on this. As a financial investor, we keep all our options open and will evaluate each opportunity on its merits.

8. We understand that you have gotten in touch with Standard Chartered Board and management. Was that a preliminary approach to the company on a possible bid?

It was a simple matter of courtesy to inform the Board and management of our investment.

9. Why is Standard Chartered not under Asia Financial Holdings, which you have said is your financial services investment holding company?

Decisions regarding structuring of our investments are internal arrangements.

10. DBS has not been very successful in its overseas acquisitions, and so far Temasek has not been able to take significant controlling stakes in banks outside Singapore. Are you investing in Standard Chartered with the intention of merging it with DBS?

Both DBS and Standard Chartered are listed companies with significant minority interests. All investment and business decisions of either of the banks are taken independently by their respective Board and management with the aim of maximizing value for all shareholders. We play no part in their investment decisions or commercial operations. If investments are such that shareholders approvals are required, then the banks will have to convene a shareholders' general meeting. In such a situation, we will exercise our shareholder's rights according to the commercial merits of the case from a shareholder perspective.

As for the Standard Chartered investment, it is consistent with our interest and focus on Asia and the emerging markets.

It has an outstanding management team who are best positioned to continue to drive growth and deliver shareholder value, as they have done the last few years.

11. How about merging Standard Chartered with any of your other banking investments in Asia to form a pan-Asian bank?
[Answer left blank]

12. Do you plan to break up Standard Chartered and merge parts of it with your existing banking investments?

This is not an appropriate question. The future of Standard Chartered is in the hands of its Board and management.

We do not involve ourselves in the investment or commercial decisions of our portfolio companies, including Standard Chartered, unless it is an issue in which shareholder approval is specifically required under The Company's Act.

13. You have invested in many financial institutions across Asia. Would this hamper Standard Chartered's ability to expand or continue with its business in some countries?

We do not see this as a problem.

All the companies in our portfolio, including Standard Chartered, are independently managed with responsibilities to their respective board and shareholders. They are each run by capable management teams.

We do not involve ourselves in the investment or commercial decisions of the companies, unless it is an issue in which shareholder approval is specifically required under The Company's Act.

On Role of Temasek

14. Temasek has always positioned itself as an active shareholder and investor. How will Temasek support Standard Chartered's growth?
[Answer left blank]

15. Standard Chartered is already doing very well. How else can Temasek value add to Standard Chartered?

Should Standard Chartered require our support, we will be happy to discuss this matter with the Board and management with an open mind, at the appropriate time.

On the board and management of Standard Chartered

16. Did Temasek discuss this purchase with the board and management of Standard Chartered prior to the investment? If not, why not?

No, it was not appropriate for us to do so prior to the investment.

We informed key members of Standard Chartered's board and management shortly before we made our announcement.

17. Would Temasek seek any representation on Standard Chartered' board?

This is something that we will discuss with the board and management of Standard Chartered when it is appropriate and useful to the company.

18. Do you plan to make any changes to the management of Standard Chartered?

This is for their Board to decide.

Having said that, the management team of Standard Chartered has been instrumental in its success today. We admire their strong capability and keen sense of business.

19. What is Temasek's assessment of the reaction of the management of Standard Chartered to Temasek's purchase of its stake in Standard Chartered?

This question is better answered by Standard Chartered.

20. Standard Chartered' board and management have on many occasions commented publicly that they would like to remain an independent company. What is your reaction to this?

We see ourselves as a stable shareholder, committed to supporting Standard Chartered's continued growth as a unique franchise.

On regulatory approvals

21. Has Temasek consulted the FSA on the purchase of its stake?

We have initiated the process of consultation with the FSA and other regulators to seek the relevant approvals and support.

22. Does Temasek foresee any problems with regulatory approvals in some of the markets which Standard Chartered operate in?

We have taken appropriate advice and will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities to comply with the regulations.

23. When will the conditions be satisfied/ when will you obtain the necessary regulatory approvals?

Timing is for the regulators but we will fully cooperate with them to comply with the regulations and obtain the necessary approvals.

On Funding

24. How is Temasek funding this investment?

We have the necessary funding for this investment.

25. Does Temasek have sufficient funds? Were the proceeds in the recent sale of SingTel shares used to fund this acquisition?

We have the necessary funding for this investment.

26. Does Temasek need to issue another global bond soon to fund its acquisitions?
[Answer left blank]

27. Will you be selling down more stakes in your portfolio to fund your acquisitions?

We are satisfied with our liquidity situation.

Others

28. You have invested in many banks in the region. Do you foresee any conflict of interests with Standard Chartered? How do you manage that?

All the companies in our portfolio, including Standard Chartered, are independently managed with responsibilities to their own board and shareholders. They are each run by capable management teams. We are not involved in their commercial decisions or day-to-day operations.

In instances where we have stakes and board representatives in two or more competing entities, we will ensure that the commercial confidentiality between the entities is preserved.

29. There is a rise of nationalistic sentiments in some of the recent investments like DPW's acquisition in P&O, and your own investment in Thailand's Shin Corp. How does Temasek plan to minimize the impact of such sentiments on its investments? Are you concerned that Temasek's investment in Standard Chartered will spark off similar sentiments?

Every investment opportunity comes with its own set of risk-reward trade-offs. There may be country, market, political, operational, regulatory, financial or execution risks.

Whether in investments or divestments, we are mindful that there can be social or political sensitivities.

We will do our best to address the various stakeholder concerns where we can, and mitigate these risks appropriately.

[For UK audience - We are just a modest shareholder in Standard Chartered and will play our role as a stable shareholder, committed to supporting Standard Chartered's continued growth as a unique franchise. We have also enjoyed strong relationships between the people of Singapore and UK at many levels, including those between businesses, friends and students in both countries. UK is Singapore's largest investor, with S$45.7 billion from 2000 companies at the end of 2004.]

30. Does Temasek coordinate its investments with GIC?

We operate completely independently from GIC.

We are a shareholder of a globally diversified portfolio of companies, while GIC is a fund management company with focus on the capital markets.

31. The Singapore Government is Temasek's only shareholder. How can Temasek make investments based purely on commercial principles? Surely the shareholder can and do impose its non-commercial agenda onto Temasek?

All our investment and business decisions are taken independently by our own board and management, based on commercial considerations. The Singapore Government is not involved.

A majority of our board members are prominent business leaders from the private sector. We have one nominee director from our shareholder on our Board. He is one amongst a group of very experienced, steady, and thoughtful directors.

All Board decisions are made on a commercial basis.

32. Is this part of Singapore's strategy to extend its influence to UK and globally?

The Singapore Government, as a shareholder, is not involved in our investment decisions and business operations.

All our investment and business decisions are taken independently by our own board and management, based on commercial considerations.

We are guided by an independent board, of which a majority of our board members are prominent business leaders from the private sector.

33. Your CEO is also the PM's wife. The PM is also the Minister for Finance, heading MOF which is your shareholder. Is her appointment politically motivated? Wouldn't there be conflicts of interest?

We are not here to discuss politics since we are not politicians or a political organization.

Our CEO is accountable to the Board of Directors, who is headed by an independent Chairman, just like any other commercial organisation.

Country specific questions

34. What are some of the regulatory issues in each market that you have encountered? How are you dealing with it?

As a Singapore institution, we seek to comply with the applicable laws and regulations in all our investment activities in each of the markets.

We abide by each country's laws and regulations at all times.

35. Do you intend to change any branding of Standard Chartered's companies in overseas markets, or their products and services?

We think Standard Chartered is a great brand, but this question should rightly be addressed to their board and management and is not appropriate for us to answer.

36. Would this investment affect any of the operations of your existing banks under your portfolio?

All the companies in our portfolio are independently managed with responsibilities to their respective board and shareholders. They are each run by capable management teams. We are not involved in their commercial decisions or day-to-day operations.

37. Please prove to us that the BODs [Boards of directors] of your portfolio companies are independent.

All directors on boards are fully aware of their fiduciary duties.

Out of our 34 significant TLCs, our management staff constitutes only 4% of all directors on the boards of these companies, as of 31 March 2005. Our management nominees are expected to fulfill their fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their respective companies and all shareholders.

The members on these boards are men and women of experience, integrity and considerable reputation, including 26% who are non-Singaporeans. These would include outstanding business leaders such as Sir Brian Pitman, the former chairman of Lloyds Bank and Mr John Ross, formerly of the Bank of New York and also Deutsche Bank. 68% of these board members are independent.

[As at Mar 2005, the overall composition of directors on these boards was as follows -
Independent - 68%
Non-Singaporean - 26%
Female - 7%
Temasek Management - 4%]

38. Please prove to us that the BODs of your portfolio companies in the banking sector are independent.

Appointments to our portfolio companies in the banking sector are governed by the regulatory requirements of the respective jurisdictions.

[To refer to Director list of TH Investee Banks ]

UK/Hong Kong/Australia

39. The Standard Chartered management has indicated that Temasek's investment could pose problems for some of Standard Chartered's operations in Asia, which could impact on Standard Chartered' financial health going forward. What's Temasek's response to that?

We will work closely with our advisors and the relevant authorities to comply with the laws and regulations in the markets where we have investments. We abide by each country's laws and regulations at all times.

As a financially stable AAA shareholder, we can be a reliable institutional investor for our portfolio companies.

All the companies in our portfolio are independently managed with responsibilities to their respective board and shareholders. They are also each run by capable management teams and we endeavour to protect commercial secrecy at all times.

40. Temasek's investment in Standard Chartered will effectively turn Standard Chartered into a Singapore government-owned/linked entity. This is not something that is desirable from our perspective. What is Temasek's comment on this?

The Singapore Government, as a shareholder, is not involved in our investment decisions and business operations, much less in the businesses of our portfolio companies

We are guided by an independent board, of which a majority of our board members are prominent business leaders from the private sector. We have one nominee director from our shareholder. He is one amongst a group of very experienced, steady and thoughtful directors.

We are an Asia investment house, with a responsibility of delivering sustainable long term value. About [49]% of our portfolio value is invested in Singapore, with [30]% in the developed or OCED economies, and the balance of [21]% in the rest of Asia and the emerging economies.

About 20% of our staff are non-Singaporeans, coming from countries like Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, South Africa, UK, US and Vietnam.

Our investment in Standard Chartered will not change its position as a unique franchise in Asia and the developing economies.

From Temasek Review 2005, pg 42, 43:
Likewise, our companies are managed by their respective management teams and supervised by their boards. We do not involve ourselves in their commercial or operational decisions.

Our key effort to add value to our portfolio companies is to promote good corporate governance by supporting and constituting high quality, commercially experienced, diverse and international boards to complement outstanding business leadership and dedicated staff.

We generally refrain from appointing our management staff onto the boards of our portfolio companies. Instead, we work actively with our companies to identify suitable independent board candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities to complement, rejuvenate or expand board capability and quality. Where appropriate, such candidates are introduced to the respective nominating committees of boards for their consideration and decision.

On 31 Mar 2005, our direct and deemed shareholdings in 34 significant Temasek-linked companies ranged from 17% to 100%. The overall composition of directors on these boards was:

Independent - 68%
Non-Singaporean - 26%
Female - 7%
Temasek management - 4%
China

41. Would your investment help Standard Chartered expand further into the China market, especially with your existing relationship with the regulators?

This is not an appropriate question. The future of Standard Chartered is in the hands of its Board and management.

We will support the board and management as a stable shareholder.

42. As part of China's banking reforms, its banks are actively looking at attracting foreign investors. Do you have plans to introduce Standard Chartered to be a strategic investor to the other 3 Chinese banks that you currently have invested?

This is for the Board and management of Standard Chartered to decide.

We will support the board and management as a stable shareholder.

43. How do you plan for Standard Chartered and the 3 banks that you've invested in to leverage on each other's network, knowledge, products?

This will be up to the respective banks to decide if there is value for them to work together.

We do not involve ourselves in the commercial decisions or day-to-day management or operation of the companies.

As with the companies under our portfolio, we will leave it to each company to determine if there are areas of strategic cooperation which may be value-enhancing for the companies involved. All the investment and business decisions are taken independently by the companies' respective boards and management.

44. You have invested in 3 of China's main banks, and now a foreign bank operating in China. Would there be conflicts of interests?

We are a professional and institutional shareholder interested in sustainable returns.

All the companies in our portfolio, including Standard Chartered, are independently managed with responsibilities to their respective boards and shareholders. They are each run by capable management teams.

We are not involved in their commercial or day-to-day operations. In instances where we have stakes and board representatives in two or more competing entities, we will ensure that the commercial confidentiality between the entities is preserved.

45. By taking a stake in Standard Chartered, Temasek would indirectly own another Chinese bank, in addition to Standard Chartered's operations in China. Previously there have been concerns raised that Temasek could threaten China's financial security. What is Temasek's reaction to this and what do you intend to do?

The Chinese government continues to hold significant controlling stakes in the banks in China. We are a small minority shareholder along with other such shareholders in the banks with no commercial conflicts of interest.

Thailand

46. Your investment in Shin Corp is still very much discussed in Thailand and there are still talks about boycotting Singapore companies and goods. Are you concerned that this investment will further fuel criticisms?

Our investment in Shin Corp reflected our confidence in Thailand's long-term growth. Similarly for Standard Chartered, the investment reflects our confidence in Standard Chartered, and Asia as a whole.

47. With your investment in Shin Corp, you are already controlling a strategic asset in telecommunications. Now with Standard Chartered, you are seen as taking over Thailand's financial services sector as well. Isn't this politically motivated?

Our investment in Shin Corp reflected our confidence in Thailand's long-term growth. Similarly for Standard Chartered, the investment reflects our confidence in Standard Chartered, and Asia as a whole.

48. What other sectors are you interested in investing in Thailand?

As an active investor, we are open and will evaluate each opportunity on its merits.

49. Under the Financial Master Plan, which stipulated the "Single Presence Rule" to be observed by foreign banks and foreign investors who own stakes in Thai banks, you are violating the rule given your stake in Standard Chartered and its shareholding in a Thai bank (SCN) and your shareholding in DBS, which has a 16% stake in Thai Military Bank (TMB). Please comment.

We have entered into an agreement to acquire equity in an overseas listed and incorporated entity. We have taken appropriate advice and will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities to comply with the regulations.

Both Standard Chartered and DBS are managed independently and as separate entities, which are the responsibilities of their own boards and management.

Under each entity, they only have one Thai banking operation. In addition, DBS only owns 16% of TMB, a public listed company, and does not have significant influence or control of the bank.

We will work closely with our advisors and the relevant authorities to comply with the laws and regulations in the markets where we have investments.

We abide by each country's laws and regulations at all times and our investment will be subjected to the necessary regulatory approvals.

More ...

http://www.financeasia.com/Tools/Print.aspx?CIID=213794

khunking · Jun 4, 2010

Deals to remember -- and a few to forget

Deals to remember -- and a few to forget

By Jackie Horne | 4 June 2010 From the depths of APP’s collapse in 2000 through to 2009 when issuance broke all records, we look at the highlights and lowlights of 10 years in Asia’s debt capital markets.

2000

Still in the throes of the Asian financial crisis, 2000 was one of the worst years on record for G3 issuance in the region, with just $9.5 billion raised via 20 issuers, while $23 billion was printed in the local currency markets. A highlight of the year for all the wrong reasons was APP China's $403 million high-yield deal. Its 100 investors were soon to rue their decision, as was FinanceAsia for making it Deal of the Month. Later that autumn, the group was back with a $1.4 billion exchange offering that was to prove its death knell.
2001
For the first time since the Asian financial crisis, international debt issuance from Asia saw some colour restored to its cheeks with roughly $17.5 billion raised, almost half the $40 billion raised in the local currency markets. Corporates reconfigured their balance sheets spurred on by interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve, which was battling to lift the global economy after the dotcom crash. Banks made heavy use of subordinated debt to replenish capital ratios depleted by M&A activity.
Deals to remember included OCBC's $2.14 billion three-tranche deal to fund its bid for Keppel Capital; two sub-debt deals by DBS, which acquired Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank; and a jumbo S$1.3 billion deal by UOB to fund its acquisition of OUB.
Deals to forget included PCCW's disastrous attempts to raise $3.5 billion that July just as the world was starting to concentrate on the possibility of an Argentinian default. J.P.Morgan pulled off a huge coup later in the year with a $750 million bond offering that finally re-financed the syndicated loan PCCW had taken out to buy Hong Kong Telecom.
Chris Nicholas, who was head of Asian sales, trading and research at the newly merged Chase and J.P. Morgan recalled: "Getting such a large deal across the line was a real challenge as global markets were very volatile. But it was also a time when there were no established leaders in Asian debt markets. Borrowers were more willing to take a chance on a bank that came along with a good idea. We had one and it was a huge coup to do the deal others had failed with earlier in the year."
2002
Massive fee compression dominated a year of flat G3 volumes with $18.5 billion raised compared to $53 billion in the domestic markets. Thailand's $1 billion sovereign deal set a new low of just 8bp on a net basis.
Malaysia led the region raising $5.48 billion through two sovereign transactions; two issues for oil giant Petronas and a small sub-debt deal for Maybank. The Federation's $600 million deal of July that year represented the world's first Islamic global bond deal, while Petronas's $2.73 billion set a new record as the region's largest ever corporate bond deal.
Steve Roberts late of Salomon Smith Barney said: "This is a client I have very good memories of. The then CEO, Tan Sri Hassan Marican, built Petronas into one of the world's foremost energy companies. He was always incredibly diligent and he never lost an air of humility that made everyone warm to him."
2003
It was the survival of the cheapest in the fiercely competitive world of G3 debt capital markets. The Republic of Philippines paid just 6bp for a $1.05 billion 10-year deal in October.
But the year was really dominated by just one company -- Hutchison Whampoa, which accounted for one third of the year's $32.9 billion issuance as it sought to mitigate re-financing risk and term out its debt ahead of potentially bad news about 3G take-up. Merrill Lynch was certainly well rewarded for Hutch's first deal, netting $30 million in fees for a $1.5 billion issue that safeguarded the company's market access after a difficult 2002. That deal was re-opened twice, followed by a €1 billion deal in July and a giant $5 billion three-tranche transaction at the end of the year.
Deals to forget included sovereign benchmarks from the Republic of Korea and People's Republic of China. Both were aggressively priced and both popped in the aftermarket.
2004
The year of $43 billion G3 issuance, of which 53% came from Asian sovereign or related entities from China, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. But the two most significant deals were debut sovereign issues for Pakistan and, after one of the most hotly contested mandates in Asian DCM history, a $2.56 billion deal for the Hong Kong SAR.
As Mark Bucknall, former co-head of global investment banking at HSBC said: "Hong Kong marked its territory in both US and Hong Kong dollars through a concurrent deal. The international tranche helped differentiate Hong Kong's credit from China, while the local portion was a great way to mop up excess local savings and further develop the domestic bond market."
The year also saw a more sustained pick-up in high-yield deals with transactions for Sun Sage, Excelcomindo, Panva Gas and Sino-Forest.
Domestic bond issuance was still running at double the G3 market, with $79 billion raised.
2005
The peak year for G3 issuance with $48.7 billion raised as borrowers rushed to market to try and stay ahead of expectations for higher rates and inflation on the back of surging oil prices.
The year was also marked by another sovereign debut, this time from Vietnam, which stepped on to the world stage with an upsized $750 million deal that had been almost 10 years in the making. "Its rarity value meant that it was able to price through comparables such as the Philippines and Indonesia," reflected Carsten Stoehr from lead manager Credit Suisse. "It amassed a huge order book."
The high yield market continued to race ahead, with the successful completion of the then lowest ever rated deal from Asia - a $250 million bond by B rated Thai pulp and paper company Advance Agro. It was joined by a legion of debut issuers including Universal Robina Corp, Adaro, Chaoda Modern Agriculture, Xinao Gas and Hanaro.
Deals to forget included a downsized $500 million high-yield debut by Korean chip manufacturer, Hynix. Offered at 97, it traded up to 111 by the end of the year. Critics wondered why the company hadn't tapped the domestic bond market where its turnaround story was already well known.
Domestic bond market issuance jumped to $91 billion via 947 issues.
2006
The year of the bank capital transaction as Asian banks sought to improve their capital adequacy ratios ahead of the implementation of Basel II. Ironically, many of the transactions feted in 2006, will no longer be allowed under the Basel Committee's new proposals to toughen the rules following the most recent global financial crisis.
Highlights of the year in the bank capital space included debut transactions from India - UTI and ICICI -- following a relaxation of local rules, and a debut issue from Vietnam - a VND2.2 trillion lower tier-2 offering from Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIVD).
Overall, the G3 markets weren't able to top the 2005 record and a total of $44 billion was raised, compared to $93 billion in the local currency markets. The year saw another roster of debut issuers led by a $1 billion dual-tranche issue for Indonesia's state-owned electricity giant Persusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and a $250 million debut by Indonesian property company Lippo Karawachi.
2007
A big year for the region's domestic bond markets, with issuance soaring past the $100 billion mark to close at $122 billion. G3 markets, on the other hand, struggled to live up to early expectations as spreads spiked on subprime fears and credit markets across the world began to freeze over. A total of $45 billion was raised, though the year will probably be best remembered for the deals which were cancelled, including a $1.5 billion issue for Chinese property developer Country Garden and a $400 million rival issue by Agile Property Holding, which both tried and failed to hit a very small window in November of that year.
One feature of 2007 was jumbo transactions, with the execution of 13 deals over $1 billion. Kicking off the year was a $2 billion offering for ICICI Bank, the biggest ever issue from India. Singapore's DBS and Korea's Woori also sold huge bank capital deals, at $2 billion and $1 billion respectively.
Sri Lanka also made its debut with a $500 million deal in the face of domestic opposition and the ongoing war with the Tamil Tigers.
2008
The contrast between the ability of the region's domestic and international bond markets to withstand the credit crunch was starkly illustrated by the amounts raised in each. While the domestic bond markets absorbed a staggering $210 billion via 1,462 issuers - almost double the amount raised in 2007, the G3 markets shrank by nearly half with just $26 billion raised via 136 issuers.
Indeed, one of the mainstays of the G3 bond markets - Kexim - found it more cost effective to raise funds in a succession of domestic currencies and then swap the proceeds back to dollars. It launched Korea's inaugural Malaysian ringgit transaction in March, followed by issues in Hong Kong dollars, Singaporean dollars, Brazilian real and Mexican pesos.
China also showed the promise of the decade to come with the volume of renminbi transactions doubling. Indeed, a Rmb30 billion lower tier-2 transaction for China Merchants Bank became the first Chinese issue to win FinanceAsia's Best Local Currency Bond in our Annual Achievement Awards.
As Brad Levitt, Standard Chartered's former global head of capital markets puts it: "The Asian domestic debt markets have grown by a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of about 25% for the last 10 years and yet there's still an enormous way to go. On just about any measure, the markets have enormous potential and are still nowhere near as liquid as their counterparts in the West."
2009
An unlikely year for the G3 bond markets to re-discover their stride, particularly given the high spreads that needed to be paid at the beginning of the year. By the end of 2009, a total of $71 billion had been raised via G3 markets, although issuance couldn't keep pace with the huge uptick of transactions from domestic currency bond markets where $356 billion was raised.
Highlights of the year included Asia's first covered bond - a $1 billion issue for Kookmin Bank, debut sukuk issues from Indonesia and Singapore's Monetary Authority, Thailand's largest domestic bond issue for PTT Exploration and Production, and the Philippines' largest domestic bond issue for San Miguel.
Country Garden also finally made it to market with a $375 million deal in September, which re-opened the high-yield bond markets for Asian issuers after a period of 15 months.

khunking · Jun 5, 2010

Selling Your Soul

<table width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody> <tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 10px; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;" valign="top" align="left">

</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <arttitle>MStanley to advise Parkway on Khazanah's takeover bid</arttitle>
5 Jun 2010, 1707 hrs IST,<artag>AGENCIES</artag>
</td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="100%" align="left"> Topics:

</td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 10px;" valign="top" width="100%" align="left">  SINGAPORE: Singapore healthcare firm Parkway Holdings said late on Friday it had appointed Morgan Stanley to advise shareholders on a $835 million <table style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 8px;" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td id="bellyad" align="left">
</td></tr></tbody></table>partial takeover bid by Malaysia's state investment firm Khazanah.

Khazanah, which owns just under 24 per cent of Parkway, wants to increase its stake to 51.5 percent, seizing control of the Singapore firm from India's Fortis Healthcare.

Media reports say Fortis, which has 25 per cent and four of the 12 seats on Parkway's board of directors against Khazanah's two, will likely make a counterbid.

Parkway shares closed at S$3.72 on Friday, below Khazanah's offer price of S$3.78

</td></tr></tbody></table>

khunking · Jun 5, 2010

Mackenzie buys Chesapeake preferred shares

By Jonathan Ratner June 4, 2010 – 11:13 am
Mackenzie Investments has acquired a significant stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp., following in the footsteps of Temasek Holdings’ purchase of convertible preferred shares in mid-May.
Jim Thompson and Andrew Massie, portfolio managers of the $5-billion Mackenzie Cundill Value Fund, wanted a piece of the action after hearing about the deal with the state-owned Singaporean investment firm. They also happen to be very fond of Chesapeake and its “cheap valuation.”
So their team called the U.S. natural gas giant and asked if Mackenzie could buy some of the US$500-million in additional preferred shares being optioned to Asian investors. After receiving similar requests from others, Chesapeake decided to sell another US$1.1-billion of its 5.75% convertible preferred stock to North American investors.
“They called us back and we were able to take down a big position in the convertible preferred,” Mr. Thompson said. “We got a huge piece.”
In addition to the roughly US$350-million in preferred shares bought across several mandates, the fund manager also recently acquired an equity position in Chesapeake. As a result, the energy company currently accounts for 6.8% of the Mackenzie Cundill Value Fund. This is its largest holding, according to the fund’s profile, which was updated on Friday.
Mr. Thompson credits the people within Mackenzie for getting this unique deal done, particularly Mark Pratt on the legal team.
“This was a very quick deal, we had a very short time to do it,” Mr. Thompson said. “The people bended over backwards to make this deal work.”
The preferreds came at a conversion premium of 20% (US$27.94) to where the common shares were trading.
“Even though it is a preferred and there is a lot of debt, what this did was help address the debt issue,” Mr. Thompson said.
He added that the deal puts Mackenzie somewhat higher in the capital structure and allowed the firm to take a larger-than-normal position.
While Temasek initially acquired US$500-million in preferreds and Hopu Investment Management bought US$100-million, another US$900-million in options is still available for Asian investors.
On May 10, 2010, Chesapeake also announced a 24-month plan to raise up US$5-billion to reduce debt and eventually achieve an investment grade rating for the company’s debt securities.
In addition to the US$600-million private placement of preferred stock to Asian investors, Chesapeake also revealed that it wants to sell as much as a 20% equity interest Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C. within three to 12 months. The subsidiary includes the company’s Marcellus Shale operations.
The preferred shares, which are only available to qualified investors, closed on Thursday with a bid of US$107.50 and an ask of US$110.50.
Read more about Mackenzie’s deal with Chesapeake, as well as Jim Thompson’s Mackenzie Cundill Value Fund in the Financial Post’s Buy & Sell column on June 9.
Jonathan Ratner

khunking · Jun 16, 2010

Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar help Chinese bank float world's biggest IPO

Printed from

Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar help Chinese bank float world's biggest IPO

Saibal Dasgupta, TNN, Jun 16, 2010, 05.35pm IST

</IFRAME>

BEIJING: Three countries-Singapore, Kuwait and Qatar-have come forward with offers to buy huge quantities of shares in the Agriculture Bank of China to help it become the world’s biggest initial public offer. They have made it possible for the Chinese bank to send out a reassuring signal to investors by booking about 20% of the $23 billion offer in advance.

The move is meant to overcome the challenges posed by depressed sentiments in the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets, which has forced several companies to pull out of IPO plans. Investors include Singapore government’s Temasak Holdings, which has huge investments in ICICI and holds significant stakes in Chinese lenders, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

Temasak and the sovereign funds of Kuwait and Qatar have each booked shares worth $1 billion each, reports suggest. Also assisting ABC are two Hong Kong based Chinese multi-billionaires including Li Ka-shing, who owns huge casinos in the Chinese gaming heaven of Macau. Li and Henderson Land’s Lee Shau Kee have each booked $128 million worth of shares.

The strategy of using "cornerstone investors" to ignite market interest was used by other Chinese lenders, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, before launching their IPOs in the past. ABC hopes to raise more than $21.9 billion garnered by ICBC in 2006 when it launched the world’s largest IPO, which has not yet been surpassed.

ABC is China’s third largest bank with $1.4 trillion in assets. It began the pre-marketing for the IPO on Monday, involving research from underwriters that gave markets previously undisclosed financial information and forecasts. It has 24,000 branches and employs more than 441,000 people.

khunking · Jun 16, 2010

Singapore counts on casino resorts to draw tourists

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=940><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD align=left>

Singapore counts on casino resorts to draw tourists
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" height=25><TBODY><TR><TD class=datestamp>Updated<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(niceDate('6/15/2010 8:31 AM'));</SCRIPT> 1d ago | Comments 13 | Recommend </TD><TD align=right>E-mail | Save | Print |<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> </SCRIPT> Reprints & Permissions |  </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left><TABLE style="FLOAT: left" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=245><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD><TD vAlign=top rowSpan=3 width=20>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink height=18 width=80> Enlarge</TD><TD class=photoCredit width=165 align=right>By Wong Maye-E, AP</TD></TR><TR><TD height=1 colSpan=2>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photoCredit colSpan=2>The gaming area represents less than 3% of the 6.3 million-square-foot Marina Bay Sands resort. Easy access means many Singapore residents are visiting. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>var storyURL = "http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2010-06-15-singaporecasinos15_ST_N.htm"; </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>var storyTitle = "Singapore counts on casino resorts to draw tourists";var articleSummary = "Singapore is betting on the international tourism and revenue that visitors can bring with its new casino resorts.";</SCRIPT>

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SINGAPORE — Stale cigarette smoke wafts through the air as Singaporeans cluster around card tables in an exclusive residents-only gambling parlor.
The parlor, called the Orchid Room, was opened by Resorts World Sentosa to accommodate Singaporeans who couldn't find a spot to gamble in the packed casino. It's a visible sign of this island nation's enormous appetite for gambling.
Yet, industry watchers say if this trend continues, it could create social problems and mitigate Singapore's expected economic gains from the new Resorts World Sentosa and its sophisticated competitor, Marina Bay Sands.
"Everyone's been asking the same question: Will Singapore (casinos) be successful?" says Aaron Fischer, head of consumer and gaming research at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. But the more relevant question appears to be, "What happens if they're too successful?"
Singapore, in lifting a 40-year ban against gambling in 2005, has followed an increasingly familiar path by Asian nations that's made the region into the gaming capital of the world. Macau has overtaken Las Vegas as the largest gambling market. Singapore is hoping to be even more successful than Macau in some respects.

"Without natural resources, tourism is as important to Singapore as the financial sector," says Jonathan Galaviz, an independent leisure and tourism analyst in Las Vegas. "Casinos represent the largest private-sector investment Singapore has had in its history."
The city state — which has long struggled with its reputation as a pit stop for long-haul flights rather than as the ultimate vacation destination — is betting on the international tourism and revenue that resort-goers can bring to Singapore. Experts expect the newly created gaming and resorts industry to eventually boost Singapore's GDP by at least half a percentage point annually because of millions of new visitors.
Other attractions
Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa are careful to stress that while gambling is a big revenue driver, the resorts also have other attractions.
Family-friendly shopping malls, an amusement park, museums and convention centers have made these venues more palatable to critics, says Eugene Tan, an assistant law professor at Singapore Management University School of Law.
At Marina Bay Sands, operated by U.S.-based Las Vegas Sands, the gaming area represents less than 3% of the 6.3 million-square-foot resort. Meanwhile, the casino at Resorts World Sentosa takes up about 3% of the 5.3 million-square-foot space.
Singapore "didn't authorize a casino, (it) authorized a game-changing economic event" with the billion-dollar initiatives, says Thomas Arasi, CEO of Marina Bay Sands.
The integrated resorts could help Singapore to achieve its goal of becoming a global city with first-class dining and entertainment amenities, says Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies.
Some residents unsettled
Still, in a nation that prides itself on law and order, where the sale of chewing gum is tightly regulated and spitting is prohibited, it's not surprising that the casinos unsettle some residents.
"Allowing casino gaming was akin to the government being perceived as being soft on the social ills associated with gambling," Tan says.
Fischer expects gambling addictions and related social problems to rise as a result of the casinos. "What the Singapore government has done is given the local population very easy access to gaming," because of the proximity of the venues to downtown Singapore, he says.
Already, gambling addictions tracked by Singapore's Institute of Mental Health are on the rise. The number of patients seen for gambling addictions is on track to quadruple in the latest fiscal year from the 88 cases recorded in the 12 months ended March 31, 2007.
Besides addiction, gambling can "bring about ruined lives, bankruptcies, marital breakdowns and even suicides," warns Kay Tham Lim, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, who opposes the casinos.
The government has created an exclusion list that problem gamblers can put themselves on to be denied entrance to the casinos. In addition, Singaporeans and permanent residents are required to pay an entry fee equivalent to $70 U.S.
The fee, though, isn't deterring such locals as Eric Kan, 45, who typically gambles many times more than that amount. "It's expensive, but there are still thousands of Singaporeans gambling," says Kan.
Economic toll?
Besides the social toll, residents' gambling could also take an economic toll on Singapore.
If too many locals go to the casinos, there's a danger they will gamble away money that could have been spent at Singaporean retailers, says Sanjay Mathur, a senior economist at RBS Global Banking & Markets. Also, locals don't spend as much on hotels, food and beverages as tourists, he adds.
It's too early to tell whether residents' enthusiasm for the casinos will last. "Never extrapolate an initial spend on an event into a long-term trend," Mathur says. "The initial enthusiasm will be much more than what it would be two years down the road."
But Robin Goh, spokesman for Resorts World Sentosa, says the lasting results of the casino resorts are jobs they'll create and the attention they'll bring to the city.
Koon Heng Lim, a taxi driver, welcomes this trend: "For me personally, it's good, because we'll have more passengers."
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

khunking · Jun 19, 2010

Attn : Orchard Road Shop Owners

Hundreds join Black Saturday class action

LETHAL FORCE: Hundreds of victims have signed up to a class action against a power company they allege contributed to one of the deadly Black Saturday bushfires / Tim Carrafa Source: Herald Sun

Class action taken against Singapore Power
It alleges it contributed to deadly blaze
121 people died in fire

HUNDREDS of bushfire victims sign a class action against an electricity supplier they claim was was responsible for a Black Saturday blaze that killed 121 people and destroyed 1244 homes. 

Lawyers Maurice Blackburn lodged a statement of claim in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday against Singapore Power International for inadequate maintenance standards that led to the Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire.
The action alleges the power company failed to fit a $10 protective device, called a vibration damper, on the power line which contributed to it breaking and starting the devastating Kilmore East fire.
In a statement released on Saturday, Maurice Blackburn chairman Bernard Murphy said there was evidence at the Royal Commission into the fires that Singapore Power could have taken steps to prevent the Kilmore East-Kinglake blaze.
Maurice Blackburn also alleges that Singapore Power failed to properly inspect and maintain the 43-year-old power line which stretched across a valley in a recognised high bushfire risk area, and failed to have an adequate system of replacing old power lines before they break.

"In November last year, the Royal Commission heard that the power line that ignited the Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire was not fitted with a vibration damper as a result of Singapore Powers policy not to fit them to existing power lines, even though they are much more likely to break than new ones," Mr Murphy said.
He said electricity distribution companies were commercial enterprises that had a responsibility to ensure public safety was not compromised simply in order to keep costs down.
"Singapore Power's failures have had very tragic consequences," he said.
He said more than 1300 people who had suffered injury, loss or damage as a result of Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire had registered their interest in the class action with in excess of 600 signing up.

khunking · Jun 23, 2010

The Devil's Advocate

Bloomberg

Singapore Gambles Low Crime Rate With $10.2 Billion Casino Push

June 23, 2010, 8:43 AM EDT By Shamim Adam and Christian Schmollinger

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s casinos have attracted more than three million visitors, created thousands of jobs and spurred spending at hotels, restaurants and shopping malls. They’re also keeping the courts busy.

Since the opening of Resorts World Sentosa in February and Marina Bay Sands in April, the island-state has seen cases of fraud, embezzlement and identity theft. Some offenders were fined or sent to prison, three European suspects have jumped bail and two Africans have been charged for cheating the casinos out of about S$140,000 ($102,000).

Named Asia’s most livable city in a Mercer Consulting survey last month, Singapore dropped its 45-year ban on casinos to help double tourism revenue by 2015 and shed what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called an “unexciting” image. One of the world’s safest countries according to the U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council, Singapore has prepared for a potential increase in loan sharking, pimping and fraud.

“Casinos mean money, money means temptation and temptation means there’s bound to be some sort of crime,” said Song Seng- Wun, an economist at CIMB Research Pte in Singapore. “Is it worth it in terms of its impact and contribution to the Singapore economy? Definitely.”

The $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands, owned by billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp., hosts its grand opening today after unveiling the casino, some convention facilities, a mall and 963 of 2,560 hotel rooms on April 27. Genting Singapore Plc’s $4.7 billion Resorts World casino on Sentosa island, featuring a Universal Studios Inc. theme park, opened Feb. 14.

‘Undesirable Activities’

Singapore’s per-capita crime rate of 684 per 100,000 people in 2008 was about a third that of New York City, Law Minister K. Shanmugam said last year. The “handful” of casino-linked cases so far hasn’t contributed “significantly” to the Singapore Subordinate Courts’ caseload, the court said in an e-mail.

“As the emergence of these cases is a recent phenomenon, the actual impact remains to be seen,” the court said. Prime Minister Lee rejected a proposal for casinos in 2002 when he was heading a committee to seek growth strategies for Singapore. He said they could lead to “undesirable activities” such as money laundering, illegal lending and organized crime.
Three years later, Lee justified the decision to allow gambling by saying the country had “no choice but to proceed” with the casinos to keep attracting tourists.

Economic Boost

The popularity of Macau supports his view. The southern Chinese city surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s biggest gambling center in 2006. Revenue there may rise 50 percent this year, Karen Tang, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, wrote in a June 11 report.

About 3 million to 4 million people have visited Singapore’s casinos so far, according to Jonathan Galaviz, an independent gambling industry strategist. The resorts may add about 0.8 percentage point to Singapore’s gross domestic product this year when fully operational, Song said, helping to reduce a reliance on manufacturing that led to three recessions in a decade. The most recent contraction was the deepest since Singapore’s independence in 1965.

Early visitor numbers at Marina Bay Sands are “more than sustainable,” Adelson said in an interview. About 550,000 people visited the casino in the first 25 days of May with two- thirds either tourists or foreigners living in Singapore.

Tax Revenue

The resorts, which the government says employ about 16,000 workers, may generate tax revenue of more than $400 million this year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on estimates provided by Aaron Fischer, CLSA Ltd.’s Hong Kong-based gambling analyst. Fischer estimates the casinos will attract 9.2 million visitors this year and 15.1 million in 2011.
Tourism receipts account for about 5 percent of the economy. The city aims to boost revenue to S$30 billion by 2015 from S$12.8 billion last year, the Singapore Tourism Board said.

Efforts to attract 17 million tourists annually by 2015 from 9.7 million last year may be working. Room and food revenue at the nation’s hotels rose 32 percent to S$223.7 million in April from a year earlier, according to the tourism agency.

“We were never tempted to come to Singapore before, but now there seems to be more things to do and more places to go,” said New Zealand retiree David Brooke after visiting the Marina Bay Sands casino during a three-day visit with his wife, en route to the U.K. “We are thinking of stopping over on our return trip as well.”

Cheating, Escorts

Resorts World’s security officers and thousands of cameras watch out for any crime and flouting of casino rules, working “very closely” with authorities, said Robin Goh, a spokesman. A Marina Bay Sands spokeswoman declined to comment.
While Singapore says it’s too early to assess any social impact, local newspapers have detailed punters caught placing bets after a winning number was declared, a Resorts World cashier who stole S$10,000 from the casino and gambled it away, and three Europeans who jumped bail after being charged with cheating at the roulette tables.
The Singapore Police Force is already serving 3,500 so- called exclusion orders prohibiting entry to the casinos to convicted criminals “such as loan shark syndicate members, secret society members, money launderers, pimps and drug traffickers,” Michael Ang, who heads the Casino Crime Investigation Branch, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Money to Spend

Prostitution, which is legal in the country of 5 million, may also increase as casino visitors celebrate or spend their winnings, said Gerrie Lim, author of “Invisible Trade,” a book on Singapore’s high-end escort industry. Public solicitation, pimping or living off the earnings of a prostitute, as well as maintaining a brothel, are illegal in Singapore.

“There will be business travelers, clients, who fly into Singapore and who want to check out the casino, and as part of the entertainment will call to book a few of these girls to come party with them,” Lim said. William, a 30-year-old former banker and owner of Singapore Model Escorts, expects business to triple. “People who win money will spend money,” he said, asking that only his first name be used. Escorts earn up to S$1,500 an hour with some bookings lasting as long as 10 hours, he said.

Some of his competitors have geared up for gamblers. Singapore Exquisite Social Escort Services has set up websites offering services under names such as Singapore Casino Escort, Sentosa Casino Escorts and Marina Bay Casino Escorts. Calls to the company were left unanswered.

Problem Gambling

Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay a S$100 daily levy to enter the casinos, or S$2,000 for an annual pass, in a government effort to deter those who can’t afford to gamble. The casinos had collected about S$70 million in entrance fees as of May 10, Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister for community development, youth and sports, said last month.

Malvin Lim, 39 and unemployed, says he’s gambled more than 20 times since they opened, betting as much as S$3,000 each time. He’s lost about S$8,000 at baccarat. “I’m using my savings to gamble and so far I haven’t had to borrow any money to play,” Lim said.

The National Council on Problem Gambling, set up in 2005, said calls to its helpline have increased “significantly” since Resorts World opened and more people have asked to be added to a list preventing them from entering the casinos.

V. Radakrishnan, a 27-year-old interior designer for offices and pubs, said he’s spent S$13,000 at Resorts World Sentosa’s jackpot machines and baccarat tables. While he’s won about S$6,000 at the slot machines, he said he has yet to “conquer” the baccarat tables. “It’s just for fun and I don’t mind losing,” Radakrishnan said as he entered the Marina Bay Sands. “I look at it as my contribution to the economy. The government should be happy.”

--With assistance from Frank Longid in Hong Kong. Editors: Lars Klemming, Adam Majendie.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at [email protected]; Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lars Klemming at [email protected]; Chris Anstey at [email protected]; Clyde Russell at [email protected].

khunking · Jun 26, 2010

Singapore’s GIC defers Fortis investment

Singapore’s GIC defers Fortis investment

fe Bureau
Posted online: 2010-06-26 01:24:18+05:30

New DelhiEscalating the suspense surrounding the battle for reins of Asia’s largest hospital chain Parkway Holdings, GIC Special Investments, the Singapore government’s investment arm, deferred its plan to make a committed investment of Rs 380 crore in Fortis Healthcare. Instead, Fortis informed stock exchanges that GIC would like to consider participating in a larger fund-raising announced by Fortis after its board met on June 9.

While the statement elicited mixed response from analysts, the market did not take the cue favourably with the Fortis scrip plunging 1.82% to close at Rs 153.55 on Thursday on the BSE, while the benchmark 30-share Sensex fell 0.88%.

“While on the face of it the statement may appear to give the impression that GIC could be interested in making a larger investment in the company sometime later, there is a strong likelihood that it is not so in spirit,” a banker said.

Considering there are very few options for investment in the healthcare segment in Asia and particularly India, given the the size and scale of Fortis, this seems to be a studied decision on the part of GIC and clearly linked to the ongoing tussle between the Malaysian government’s investment arm Khazanah and Fortis for the control of Parkway. However, the GIC statement said it “remains committed to Fortis through our substantial investment in Fortis’ convertible bonds. Like any investor, we constantly review our investments and will evaluate participating in the larger fund-raising by the company as per the resolution passed in the board meeting dated June 9, 2010 and defer the preferential investment until such time.” Still, none of the analysts were ready to discount the involvement of the ongoing scuffle at Singapore in the decision.

http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/638644/#Some analysts felt that if GIC was really keen on continuing its association with Fortis, it could have retained the 6.58% in Fortis and considered raising its stake later, considering that it would not have had the compulsion to shell out the entire money at one go. Others felt that being a government investment arm, it is extremely conscious of its image and would not like to be seen as publicly reneging on a commitment. Yet others speculated that Khazanah and GIC being conservative government investment arms would not like to be seen as engaging in a fight from opposite sides in full public glare.

However, most of them refused to be quoted, given the sensitive undertones the entire issue has assumed. And none of them could completely rule out GIC buying out deeper into Fortis at a later stage, even though most believe that an announcement of this nature at a time when the Fortis board has passed a resolution to raise funds doesn’t augur well for India’s second-largest corporate hospital chain.

“The statement doesn’t necessarily mean GIC is committed to the cause of Fortis,” said Ranjit Kapadia, vice-president, institutional research, HDFC Securities. GIC may not be willing to pay a premium of 11% on the current market price of Fortis and that may have led to the deferment of allotment, he added. In general, there is consensus that once Fortis announces its pending decision on whether it wants to launch a counter-offer to Khazanah or exit Parkway and brings more certainty to the situation, all related threads of chaos would get disentangled. The Singapore securities market regulator has allowed Fortis time till July 30 to decide whether it wants to make a counter-offer for Parkway.
After Fortis bought US private equity firm TPG’s over 23.9% stake in Singapore-based Parkway in March, it reached an agreement with GIC to sell 6.58% stake in the company for Rs 380 crore. The decision of sale was approved only recently in June after Khazanah launched its open offer to increase its stake to 51.5% from 23%. This threatened Fortis’ position as the largest shareholder (with 25.3% stake) in Parkway at a time when the Indian company planned to use it as a springboard for creating a global healthcare model.

khunking · Jul 1, 2010

Singapore wins, for now

Southeast Asia
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By Muhammad Cohen

SINGAPORE - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore's second casino resort and already a US$5.7 billion urban icon, made a big splash with its grand opening last week. The SkyPark atop the three tapering hotel towers admitted its first guests to look down over the edge of the infinity pool 57 stories above Singapore to the Singapore Flyer wheel and beyond.

"Jaw-droppingly tremendous," one usually buttoned-down analyst exclaimed. Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, no fan of casinos or brevity, simply said, "Wow."

Last Wednesday's grand opening at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) became a made-for-TV junk sport tower climb. The event produced great panoramas of Singapore and skirted any rules around the region against casino advertising. A gala dinner for

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Singapore's great and good highlighted the formal launch of this integrated resort (IR). The developer, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, invited everyone who's anyone in Singapore, Diana Ross entertained. It was an occasion for the city-state to celebrate.

"Singapore has already won," independent gaming and leisure analyst Jonathan Galaviz declared, and he'd get no argument from the hundreds attending the gala opening or from the hundreds of thousands who have visited the two IRs so far.

MBS gives Singapore a new, instantly recognizable global landmark. More practically, MBS provides Singapore with a convention center as large as any in Asia and a resident production of Broadway's The Lion King, now opening in March next year rather than this October as previously announced.

Resorts World Sentosa, Genting International's already opened US$4.7 billion integrated resort, features Asia's largest Universal Studios - Singapore's long sought world-class theme park - and will soon feature its own resident modern circus production Voyage de la Vie, plus the world's biggest aquarium.

What's a Jimmy Choo?
Both IRs are also building museums. Aside from education and culture, name-brand luxury abounds. Heard of Jimmy Choo but never seen one the company's products? At either IR, have a gander at shoes and bags from S$238 (US$169) up, way up. Choose star chefs from classic French to Austral-Japan fusion to good old American steak, and Chinese, if you please, from several regions.

It's all aimed at bringing in overseas [COLOR=green !important][COLOR=green !important]tourists[/color][/color], families and leisure crowds to Resorts World Sentosa and business travelers to MBS, with hopes of raising Singapore's visitor count from below 10 million in dismal 2009 to 17 million by 2015. When fully completed, the IRs will directly employ about 20,000, and create countless further business opportunities.

The government guided what was built through a strict bidding process that limited the casino floor area to 15,000 square meters (161,400 square feet). Its S$100 charge for Singapore citizens and permanent residents to enter the casino seems to have hit the right price spot to discourage, but not exclude, locals from having a flutter. Booming tourist numbers have provided the scoreboard to keep track of Singapore's IR win. Visitors are up 30% for May to a record 946,000 arrivals (not counting land arrivals across the causeway from Malaysia) according to figures released on Monday, the sixth consecutive all-time arrivals record for a month.

No taxpayer dollars at work
"They got these companies to build it all without a cent of government subsidy," said Dennis Foo, Singapore's leading nightclub impresario, chief executive of the Saint James Power Station entertainment business, and a member of the Singapore Tourism Council.That's different from other occasions when Singapore has attempted to lure something new to town, from nanotechnology research to the Crazy Horse topless cabaret.

Now that the IRs are up and running and far enough along that there's no question about their completion, the nanny state has left the table with its bankroll intact. Still at the table with their chips on the line are two heavily indebted companies compliant with Singapore Inc to market their prodigiously over-budget resorts. It's happened at no real risk to Singapore, politically or economically. The proposal to allow casinos prompted the biggest, most public political debate in Singapore's history. But everyone knew what the outcome would be, and whatever their opinions, Singaporeans largely fell into line behind the government's decision.

As large and obvious as the IRs are, they're still just a sideshow for Singapore. They're located on the fringes of town, far from the heartland of public housing estates and working-class wage earners. Except in the convention and visitor sector, the IRs will remain on the fringe of Singapore's economy, contributing marginally to gross domestic product ([COLOR=green !important][COLOR=green !important]GDP[/color][/color]). That’s in contrast to Macau, where casinos dwarf any other local sector and economically are the tail that wags the dog.

Book of Lee
Still, not everyone believes that Singapore has won, or that the game is over. Execution risk doesn't end with the completion of construction.

From the beginning, the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) argued against the casinos. "I worry about getting in millionaires to drive up GDP," SDP secretary general Chee Soon Juan said. "We're attracting the hyper-rich. Meanwhile, income disparity in Singapore continues to grow." Chee suggests an alternative formula for economic success: "Work diligently and creatively to produce goods and services that people want to buy."

That's sounds awfully Singaporean, a page from the book of founding father Lee who sued Chee into bankruptcy. Chee scoffed at the notion that casinos mean the end of the nanny state. "They know they cannot hold back activities people want to engage in. They'll do anything to have the look and feel of a progressive state. The one thing they won't allow is political freedom."

Economically, the IRs "are not a problem solver", Chee said. "The jobs are not going to Singaporeans, but mainly to foreign workers." With no minimum wage in Singapore, employers drive down pay to a level that Singaporeans won't accept but Filipinos, Indonesians and mainland Chinese will.

Onshore outsourcing
"We have to stop outsourcing our hospitality industry to other countries' labor," said Devin Kimble, managing director of Menu, which runs a chain of restaurants, including microbrewery Brewerkz. "We have to add value and that costs money."

At both IRs, once you get beyond the [COLOR=green !important][COLOR=green !important]hotel[/color][/color] front desk and executive suites, well-spoken English or any other Western language is a rarity. But it's not just about language. It's about thinking creatively to find ways that will keep customers coming back and telling their friends to visit Singapore.

On the macro side, the junk sport climb up the side of the MBS towers was broadcast on a satellite station that isn't part of the TV system at MBS. But the IR has several in-house channels - and surely LVS held the rights to the event and paid for it to be broadcast. So, instead of a loop about gourmet restaurants opening in the coming months or the baccarat tutorial, why not broadcast the climb and the other grand opening event live on those channels and continue showing them for weeks to give guests a sense that they're in the middle of something historic?

Similarly, at Resorts World Sentosa, there are several notable artworks, from neo-cubism by Romero Britto to blown glass by Dale Chihuly to a cast of perhaps the best-known sculpture in the world, Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. There is also a whole hotel built around the designs of Michael Graves, featuring many of his prints and paintings. Type up a sheet of highlights to guide guests through an art tour of the [COLOR=green !important][COLOR=green !important]property[/color][/color], and you've added value to money already spent.

At the micro level, it means someone who can bring two extra sachets of instant coffee to my room on the first try and not finding a strange cigarette lighter on my table after the room was made up. (At least it wasn't a condom.) Maybe a maid found the lighter under the bed or desk and thought it was mine and deserves credit for trying hard. But at S$359-S$489 (US$257-$350) a night at MBS - and 17 million guests for Singapore - trying hard can't be good enough anymore.

"We shouldn't be the McDonald's of Asia, we should be the Ritz Carlton," Menu's Kimble said of Singapore. It will take years to see in which direction the IRs lead Singapore, and whether it's really a long-term win for the city-state and its citizens.

Macau Business special correspondent and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen told America’s story to the world as a US diplomat and is author of Hong Kong On Air

, a novel set during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie. Follow Muhammad Cohen’s blog for more on the media and Asia, his adopted home.

(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

khunking · Jul 5, 2010

Baroness Vadera to join Temasek, says Telegraph

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Baroness Vadera to join Temasek, says Telegraph </TD><TD class=buttonheading width="100%" align=right>

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<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Written by The Edge </TD></TR><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top>Monday, 05 July 2010 13:28</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="95%">

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Temasek, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, has hired former minister Baroness Vadera, says UK’s Telegraph.

It is understood that fund, which lost at least 20pc of its value during the financial crisis, wants access to Lady Vadera’s financial and geopolitical expertise, as it restructures parts of its $127 billion investment portfolio.

The Cabinet Office’s advisory committee on business appointments is expected to reveal the appointment today as part of Whitehall rules policing roles taken by former Government ministers.
Since leaving the Government last September, Lady Vadera has been hired by the Dubai government to give its strategic advice on the restructuring of Dubai World’s US$26 billion ($36.2 billion) debts. She has also become a policy adviser to the rotating G20 presidency, which currently sits with South Korea.

A former UBS Warburg corporate financier as well as Gordon Brown’s closest economic policy adviser, Lady Vadera is likely to assist Temasek’s board, led by chief executive Ho Ching, for six months.

Temasek has stakes in some of the world’s largest companies and banks, including Standard Chartered, Bank of China and ICICI Bank as well as a 55% share of Singapore Airlines.

However, some recent investments have led to losses, including a short-lived stake in Barclays that was sold at an $1.7 billion loss in late 2008.

It also parted company with director Charles Goodyear, the former BHP Billiton chief executive, less than 10 weeks before he was to become the fund’s chief executive last summer after failing to agree on strategy.

Ho Ching, who is the wife of Lee Hsien Loong, the Singapore prime minister, revealed last July that the fund had lost at least $35.7 billion during the financial crisis.

Lady Vadera declined to comment.

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=modifydate>Last Updated on Monday, 05 July 2010 13:45</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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khunking · Jul 6, 2010

BP approaching SWFs over strategic stake: UAE source

<TABLE id=netspidersosh border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="90%" align=center><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top width="90%" align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=center><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px" vAlign=top align=left>Printed from

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><ARTTITLE>BP approaching SWFs over strategic stake: UAE source</ARTTITLE>
6 Jul 2010, 1814 hrs IST,<ARTAG>REUTERS</ARTAG>

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" vAlign=top width="100%" align=left>DUBAI: British oil company BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it <TABLE style="MARGIN-TOP: 6px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 8px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD id=bellyad align=left></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>deals with its massive US oil spill, a senior UAE source said on Tuesday.

BP executives have held talks with a number of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) including Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore, the source told Reuters under condition of anonymity.

"BP is seeking a strategic partner so it doesn't get taken over by other major oil companies such as Exxon and Total," the source said. "It's BP that is approaching the sovereign wealth funds not the other way round. They are the ones in need of a partner."

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), one of two sovereign wealth funds in the nation, already owns around 0.7 per cent of BP via a 122 million share holding, according to Thomson Reuters data.

GIC was not available for comment. Temasek, another Singaporean state fund, declined to comment.

"It's normal sovereign funds are looking into it. Most of them are probably not going to buy on the market," said a Middle East based investment banker familiar with the matter.

"They would consider a PIPE investment. BP has 2 choices, either sell assets or raise capital and this is under discussion," he added.

The size of any stake sale would be at least $500 million, the banker said.

Another banking source familiar with the matter said talks were still preliminary and that BP had yet to offer blocks of shares to SWFs.

For BP, it would be important not to undercut existing shareholders by offering a special deal to SWFs, bankers said.

BP had started marketing programs to convince funds that its share price is low enough to encourage them to buy on the market, he said.

"If they get a special price they would invest," he said. "But if they do and it's not the same deal as for existing shareholders, it would be a PR nightmare for BP."

Existing shareholders on Monday balked at reports that BP was looking to sell a stake, questioning whether it really needed a strategic partner.

Libya and China were also among those interested, the second source said.

BP shares have lost more than half their market value since the spill in the Gulf of Mexico was unleashed on April 20, the result of an explosion on a drilling rig that caused the undersea well to rupture.

Attempts to stop the flow have not worked, with BP pinning hopes on a relief well that should be completed in August.

BP has said it hopes to raise $10 billion from asset sales this year as part of its plan to fund a $20 billion clean-up fund set up under pressure from US authorities.

Several newspapers reported interest this week among SWFs in buying some of BP's assets in the Middle East and Asia.

Britain's Sunday Times said BP's advisers were trying to drum up interest among rival oil groups and sovereign wealth funds to take a stake of between 5 and 10 per cent in the company at a cost of up to 6 billion pounds ($9.1 billion).

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