HDB Issues Fixed Rate Notes

HDB Issues Fixed Rate Notes

Date issued : 13 Nov 2013

 The Housing and Development Board ("HDB") has issued S$1.5 billion, 4-year Fixed Rate Notes (the “Notes”) under its S$22 billion Multicurrency Medium Term Note ("MTN") Programme.

2The Notes have a coupon of 1.875% per annum payable semi-annually in arrear. The Notes were issued on 13 November 2013 and will mature on 13 November 2017.

3The Notes are in denominations of S$250,000 and were offered by way of placement to investors who fall within Sections 274 and/or 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore. Approval in principle for the listing of the Notes on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) has been obtained. Admission of the Notes to the Official List of the SGX-ST is not to be taken as an indication of the merits of HDB, its subsidiaries or the Notes. The Notes are cleared through The Central Depository (Pte) Limited.

4The Joint Lead Managers are BNP Paribas, Singapore Branch, DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, DMG & Partners Securities Pte Ltd, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank Limited.

5Under HDB's MTN programme, HDB may from time to time, issue bonds (or notes) to finance its development programmes and working capital requirements as well as to refinance the existing borrowings.

6HDB was set up as a statutory board on 1 February 1960. Today, it houses more than 80% of Singapore's resident population and has enabled more than nine out of ten of them to be homeowners. This has made Singapore one of the highest home ownership nations in the world. The provision of quality housing and related services, and the renewal of the older HDB estates, will remain the focus for HDB.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS
This announcement is not an offer for sale of securities in the United States. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (as amended), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration under, or an applicable exemption from, the registration requirements of the U.S. securities laws. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such an offering is restricted or prohibited.

- wong chee tat :)

EU investigators accuse 13 banks in derivatives probe

EU investigators accuse 13 banks in derivatives probe

    POSTED: 01 Jul 2013 10:00 PM

EU investigators accused 13 top banks including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs on Monday of colluding over derivatives trading, in a new move to tighten banking standards.

BRUSSELS: EU investigators accused 13 top banks including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs on Monday of colluding over derivatives trading, in a new move to tighten banking standards.

A preliminary investigation by the Commission showed that banks worked together to exclude exchanges from the derivatives market.

This was allegedly because they feared involvement by the exchanges would cut into their huge profits from over-the-counter trading.

Some aspects of derivatives trading have been blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis.

The EU's Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that the banks now had the chance to respond to the detailed accusations.

He said that they could face fines if the charges were confirmed once the investigation had been completed.

"If it is confirmed that banks collectively blocked exchanges from the derivatives market, the Commission could decide to impose sanctions," Almunia said at a press briefing.

"Exchange trading of credit derivatives improves market transparency and stability," he said.

Collusion between banks to prevent this type of trading would be "a serious breach of our competition rules", he said.

Almunia declined to give an estimate of the size of possible fines on the banks but he said the CDS market at the moment was worth about 10 trillion euros ($13 trillion).

The collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 "showed how derivatives trading is able to destabilise the entire financial system," Almunia said.

The EU investigation began in 2011 and has focused on claims that the Deutsche Boerse stock market and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were excluded from the derivatives market between 2006 and 2009 when the crisis reached its peak.

It said the two exchanges decided to turn to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and data service provider Markit to obtain the necessary licences but were turned down because the banks had prevented them from doing so.

The 13 European and US banks targeted are: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.

Four other banks that had been involved in the investigation -- Commerzbank, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and Wells Fargo -- have been excluded because of a lack of evidence.

In May, a US pension fund for Cleveland metal workers initiated legal proceedings against some of the banks identified by the European Commission saying it had suffered financial losses because of "an illegal cartel".

The fund said the number of victims of the alleged cartel could reach "tens of thousands", and claimed the derivatives market had been heavily distorted by those who controlled it.

The European Commission has worked to take on a stronger role in policing the financial markets in the wake of the global financial crisis and the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

Last month, it said it was preparing a set of proposals to tighten up oversight of key market benchmarks, especially of interest rates, after recent rigging scandals in London.

These could include moving LIBOR, a global interest rate indicator, from London to Paris where it would be supervised by the European Securities and Markets Authority.

Such a move would very likely anger the British government which jealously guards the City of London, home to one of the world's largest financial markets.

LIBOR, or London Interbank Offered Rate, is a flagship reference instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money.

London's role has been undermined by revelations that major banks, among them Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS, have manipulated LIBOR to their advantage, especially during the turmoil and aftermath of the 2008 crisis.

British regulators have laid out plans for a new system combining survey-based rates and objective data to replace the current system, hoping to head off EU efforts to take overall control of such a key financial market instrument.

- AFP/al

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Credit Agricole to cut 2,350 global jobs: union

Credit Agricole to cut 2,350 global jobs: union
Posted: 14 December 2011 1927 hrs

PARIS - French banking group Credit Agricole is to cut 2,350 jobs around the world, including 850 positions in France, mainly at its Cacib investment bank, the Force Ouvriere (FO) union said on Wednesday.

At Cacib, 1,750 jobs will be cut globally, including 550 in France, said FO's representative for the bank, Bernard Pechard.

The bank's consumer credit branch, CACF, will see 600 jobs cut, half in France and half in the rest of the world.

Bank management held meetings on Wednesday with union officials representing staff at Cacib and CACF.

Pechard said he expected more job cuts would be announced when similar meetings are held at other Credit Agricole subsidiaries, including leasing arm Calef, which has 3,100 employees, and equity broker Chevreux, which has 800.

On Tuesday union sources had said they expected "several hundred" jobs to be cut at Credit Agricole, which last month reported a 65 percent drop in net attributable quarterly profit.

Credit Agricole, one of the biggest banks in Europe by capitalisation, employs 160,000 people around the world, a third of them outside of France, while Cacib employs about 15,000 people globally, including 4,600 in France.

Like other French banks, Credit Agricole has been hit by its exposure to Greek sovereign debt amid the eurozone debt crisis and last month revealed a 60 percent write-down of its holdings of Greek bonds.

The Moody's agency earlier this month downgraded its credit rating on Credit Agricole's long-term debt by one notch to Aa3, as it also announced downgrades on two other leading French banks, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

BNP Paribas expects to cut 1,400 jobs globally, mainly in its corporate and investment bank CIB, unions said last month, while Societe Generale has also warned unions of plans to cut several hundred jobs.

- AFP/ir

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