Singapore

Troubled Singaporean oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings said late on Friday it was unable to make the coupon payment for its 450 million yuan ($67.5 million) fixed rate notes due on Sunday. The company applied in July to place itself under judicial management, after initially filing for liquidation, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices. Read more.

A Singapore-based shipping trust that operates container ships is asking creditors for leniency on about $253 million of debt, in the latest sign of debt woes in the industry and in the city-state, the Times of Oman reported. Rickmers Maritime won’t be able to repay $179.7 million of senior debt due in March 2017 and the interest and principal on S$100 million ($73.3 million) of notes due in May 2017, it said in an investor presentation filed to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday.

The number of firms in Singapore being wound up after encountering financial trouble is set to be on a par with last year's number, which was the highest in 11 years, The Straits Times reported. These figures may even understate the levels of distress as such a formal procedure is always the last resort, industry observers note. More companies seem to be going under, and the number of these cases could creep up to higher levels than during the global financial crisis, said Mr Chua Beng Chye, partner in the restructuring and insolvency practice at Rajah & Tann.

Three weeks into the sudden collapse of Swiber Holdings - the first major casualty of a protracted slump in oil prices - concerns are emerging over possible spillover into the local economy as one-fifth of manufacturing employment is linked to the beleaguered offshore and marine (O&M) industry, The Straits Times reported. Economists warn that insolvencies of offshore service companies can potentially affect the country's gross domestic product (GDP) as the sector accounts for up to 11 per cent of manufacturing's contribution to GDP, and 20 per cent of manufacturing employment.

Singapore Inc is facing mounting concerns as the city-state’s long-successful oil and gas sector turns sour with the oil price slump, the Financial Times reported. Oil and gas services have been a lucrative niche for the country. It is the world’s biggest maker of jack-up rigs, which are used to drill for oil in shallow ocean waters. But the plunging price of oil, currently hovering around $40 a barrel, has turned this strength into a source of economic pain as rig builders have been forced to slash jobs while smaller oil services providers face bankruptcy.

Mahathir Mohamad has attacked Singapore’s handling of alleged money-laundering linked to Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB. In an interview with the Financial Times, Malaysia’s influential former prime minister accused Singapore of failing to target the protagonists in what is alleged to be a global scheme to siphon off more than $3.5bn from the fund. “Notice that the government of Singapore is very reluctant to pinpoint the people involved in this corruption,” Mr Mahathir said. “It affects Singapore’s reputation as a financial centre. It is not doing the right thing.

Singapore oilfield services company Swiber Holdings Ltd said on Friday it has applied to place itself under judicial management instead of liquidation, Reuters reported. Swiber shocked markets earlier this week by filing for liquidation, as it faced hundreds of million of dollars in debt and a decline in orders, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices.

DBS Group Holdings, Singapore's biggest lender, said it expects to recover about half of its total exposure of S$700 million ($517.4 million) to Swiber Holdings Ltd, the oilfield services provider that filed to wind up operations, Reuters reported. DBS said on Thursday that it would tap into its reserves to provide fully for the anticipated shortfall and that it expects the net allowance charge to be lower, at about S$150 million. Swiber filed for liquidation on Wednesday, buckling under millions of dollars of debt to become the latest victim of the slump in oil prices.

Bondholders are suffering as a fishmeal supplier’s bankruptcy filing flags doubts among lenders that it will extract enough value from its assets in Peru to repay creditors, Bloomberg News reported. China Fishery Group Ltd. filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code on June 30, stoking a 10.5 cent drop in its 2019 notes -- set for the worst month since November.

Singapore’s regulator has vowed more “intrusive” inspections of banks over money-laundering after admitting that the scandal surrounding Malaysia’s state investment fund has been a blow to the city-state’s reputation as a financial centre, the Financial Times reported. Banks in Singapore were used to channel money diverted from 1MDB, according to US prosecutors, who allege that more than $3.5bn was siphoned off from the Malaysian state investment fund.