LONDON (REUTERS) - European companies are the leaders in corporate disclosure on greenhouse gas emissions but Asia overtook the United States to claim second place in 2019, according to an analysis of more than 2,000 of the largest companies by Arabesque. The goal of capping the rise in average global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius, as enshrined in the 2015 Paris climate accords, is almost certainly out of reach unless greenhouse gas emissions rates fall sharply in the biggest economies. Arabesque is a research and asset manager in environmental, social, and corporate governance headquartered in Frankfurt. It found that the quantity and quality of global corporate emissions data disclosure had risen between 2014 and 2019 but was uneven across major regions. "The rate of disclosure has not been consistent across regions, and has been led by Europe," Arabesque said. "What is more surprising is the recent change in second place from the USA to Asia in 2019. This is driven both by a decrease in disclosures from the USA and an increase in disclosures from Asia," it added. The increase in emissions disclosure was led by companies in Japan, India, Singapore and Malaysia. In the US, there was a decrease in the scope of corporate emissions data disclosure. "There is still a lot of disclosure to be done in carbon data - and we are still far from where we should be," Andreas Feiner, CEO of Arabesque S-Ray, told Reuters. "There are a lot of companies that are not in line with the Paris goals." US President-elect Joe Biden has promised sweeping measures to make the US economy carbon-neutral by 2050 to put the United States on a path to cut emissions as deeply as scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The bid to reverse President Donald Trump's legacy of climate deregulation would likely start with some easy wins, such as rejoining the Paris Agreement. "I expect the US to take big big steps," said Mr Feiner, adding that he expected Biden to make significant moves towards tackling emissions in the world's largest economy. More on this topic   Related Story MSCI launches climate indices to help investors align with Paris Agreement   Related Story Most big CO2 emitting firms not on track for climate goals: Report

KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - This Sunday (Nov 22), the post-Covid travel era will begin at airports in Hong Kong and Singapore. Two hundred passengers, prescreened for the virus, will board flights in each city bound for the other. Upon arrival, they'll be tested again. If they're negative, they can then roam free - without having to undergo the two-week quarantines required of other travellers. It's the world's first-known Covid travel bubble, and the devastated global tourism industry has pinned its hopes on a successful rollout. Unfortunately, even if the experiment works, it won't herald the return of anything like the freewheeling air culture of pre-pandemic life. Instead, it'll probably signal a newly expensive and rarefied era of travel - one that's very unlikely to support an industry that depends on cheap flights. It's no accident that this experiment is happening in the Asia-Pacific. For two decades, air travel has expanded more rapidly there than anywhere else. In 2010, 15.9 million people visited Thailand; in 2019, 39.8 million visited, more than two-thirds of them from Asia. Few of those travellers arrived in a first-class cabin. Instead, their Thai beach holidays were mostly enabled by the explosive growth of low-cost airlines. That had an immense effect on tourist flows: From 2011 to 2018, weekly flights between China and Thailand rose from 200 to 1,300, while the proportion of those taken on a budget airline soared from 4 per cent to 44 per cent. All those bargains came to a halt this year thanks to Covid. In Thailand, foreign visitors for 2020 are expected to decline by a whopping 83 per cent, with most of the arrivals coming before the lockdown. Other countries are facing similar blows to their travel and tourism industries. Budget airlines, dependent on volume to make up for thin margins, are among the worst-affected companies. From the earliest days of the pandemic, "travel bubbles" were proposed as one solution to this devastation. But setting them up turned out to be far more difficult than expected. In Asia, where countries have been far more successful in controlling the pandemic, there's an understandable reluctance to open up. Yet even in places where interest is strong, the practical difficulties of agreeing to seemingly simple matters - such as testing standards - have held things up. Despite such impediments, Hong Kong and Singapore have managed to come to what looks like a workable agreement. The deep economic connections between the two cities - 13,654 flights went between them in 2019 - certainly helped. Demand appears to be strong as well. During the inaugural week, in which there will be only one daily "bubble flight", seats are already sold out. It won't be cheap, however. Even economy-class seats are going for more than US$800, far more than an equivalent ticket pre-pandemic. And that won't be the only premium attached to a bubble flight. Covid screening alone could cost as much as US$600 round trip. In addition, travellers who test positive are expected to foot the bill for their treatment and quarantine in their destination city. More on this topic   Related Story Parliament: S'pore to negotiate air travel bubbles with safe countries for general travellers, says Ong Ye Kung   Related Story S'pore-HK flight tickets for Nov 22-30 sold out after air travel bubble announced For all that, a travel bubble is no guarantee against infection. Last week, a Caribbean cruise ship set sail for the first time since the industry was shut down in March. Despite extensive precautions, including multiple tests for everyone on board, seven passengers and two crew members tested positive just days after the ship left port. The trip was quickly aborted and the company has cancelled the rest of its cruises for 2020. The Singapore-Hong Kong bubble might survive such an outbreak, but there's not much room for error. According to the agreement reached between the two cities, if either destination - both home to millions - records a seven-day average of five or more unlinked Covid cases, the bubble will be suspended. Despite the risks, there are clearly plenty of people willing to take their chances to get back in the air. But the extra costs, financial and otherwise, suggest that bubbles simply aren't the answer to the travel industry's woes - in Asia or anywhere else. As with so many aspects of life impacted by Covid, only a vaccine is going to get things back to normal. • Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of "Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade" and "Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale." More on this topic   Related Story Australia contemplates opening up travel with Asia despite bursting of bubble with NZ   Related Story Singapore and Indonesia announce reciprocal green lane; applications to begin on Oct 26

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - DBS Group Holdings' chief executive welcomed the increased regulatory scrutiny of financial technology companies in China and elsewhere in Asia, saying it will create fairer competition with banks that have been subject to stricter oversight. "Over time you will start getting a more level playing field, and you'll start getting a proportionate and even regulatory response to all participants in the market," Mr Piyush Gupta said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday (Nov 19). Mr Gupta spoke after being asked for his view on the shelving of Ant Group's initial public offering in China as regulators seek to level competition between fintech giants and traditional banks. "Our view has been in the past that many technology companies have been able to benefit from the arbitrage of not having the same regulatory regime and supervision overhead that banks do," Mr Gupta said. "And so as we get to that stage that's actually helpful to us." While declining to comment on his plan to merge the bank's India unit with struggling Lakshmi Vilas Bank, due pending regulatory approval, Mr Gupta said such a deal won't impact DBS's dividend payment. China, India and Indonesia are key regional markets the bank is expanding into, he said. More on this topic   Related Story Ant Group's stalled IPO seen slashing its value by $188 billion   Related Story Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to halt Ant's IPO, reports Wall Street Journal

MUMBAI/BENGALURU/SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - DBS Group's proposed move to take over troubled Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) will give South-east Asia's largest lender the boost in India it has long desired, but aligning the two banks' business cultures could prove tricky. LVB, facing mounting bad loans and governance issues and a failure to secure capital, is set to be folded into DBS's Indian subsidiary under a plan proposed by India's central bank, which took control of the 94-year old Chennai-based lender on Tuesday (Nov 17), citing a "serious deterioration" in its finances. The plan will accelerate DBS's expansion ambitions in India and potentially transform it from a largely digital bank in the country to one with hundreds of branches. DBS currently has just over 30 branches in India, while LVB has more than 550, and 900-plus ATMs. DBS, which has a market value of about US$47 billion, will inject 25 billion rupees (S$463 million) into its India subsidiary for the proposed merger. "The branches are the crown jewels and offer a readymade network at a very affordable price," said Mr Willie Tanoto, an analyst at Fitch Ratings in Singapore. But turning around and integrating LVB, which employs more than 4,000 staff, will pose challenges for DBS, even though the Singapore bank has been in India since 1994 and in 2019 converted its Indian operations from a branch to a wholly-owned subsidiary. India's banking union has already expressed reservations about the potential DBS deal. The All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), which represents about half a million bank employees, protested against the proposed amalgamation and has demanded a merger with a public sector lender instead. "Government must preserve the essence of an Indian bank and give it to a national lender instead of handing it over to a foreign bank," said Mr CH Venkatachalam, AIBEA's general secretary. LVB did not immediately respond to a Reuters' e-mail seeking comment on the proposed merger, while DBS declined to comment. In terms of culture, there are differences between the two banks, with DBS staff trained in digital skills and strong underwriting processes at a multinational bank, while LVB has a more traditional client-focused approach. Their branches also differ in look and feel. LVB's branches have steel benches for waiting customers and numerous notices on walls and windows, contrasting with a more minimalist style often seen in branches at multinational banks. More on this topic   Related Story India set to hand troubled Lakshmi Vilas Bank to Singapore's DBS "Prima facie, there will be challenges in terms of cultural integration as well as process-orientation of people who've not worked in a new-age bank," said Mr Venkat Iyer, partner at recruitment firm Aventus Partners. Macquarie analyst Suresh Ganapathy said beyond any cultural differences, there are other issues at play. "DBS employees will have far better capability in terms of digital banking, credit appraisals and underwriting," Mr Ganapathy said. Some analysts highlighted that DBS has a strong track record in acquisitions, such as its takeover of a failed Taiwanese bank in 2008 and the acquisition of ANZ's wealth management and retail businesses in five Asian markets, completed in 2018. One fund manager said the deal was a strategic fit but he also pointed to a potential culture clash. "The key unknown at this stage is execution especially for a turnaround acquisition like this where Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which appears to have been operating under a different risk appetite and intensity of internal controls, will need to be aligned with DBS's prudent and conservative culture," said Mr Xin-Yao Ng, Asian equities investment manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, which holds DBS shares. More on this topic   Related Story Analysts react to proposed DBS takeover of ailing India bank

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Starburst Holdings executive chairman Edward Lim Chin Wah and managing director Yap Tin Foo are being investigated in relation to "corrupt transactions with agents", the Catalist-listed firm said on Wednesday (Nov 18), in response to queries from the Singapore Exchange on Monday. Starburst had announced on Nov 15 that Lim, Yap, and senior project manager Josiah Lawrence Ng Eng Long were on bail amid an investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), related to the affairs of wholly-owned unit Starburst Engineering Pte Ltd. On Wednesday, Starburst confirmed that the trio had been arrested by the police's white-collar crime unit and are currently on bail pending the ongoing investigation. It said that based on information provided to the company by Lim, Yap and Ng, the former two are being investigated for offences under Section 6 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 241) of Singapore; Ng is being investigated for abetting the commission of an offence under that Act. That section of the Act relates to "corrupt transactions with agents", specifically to corruptly giving or offering gratification to agents for doing any act in relation to the principal's affairs or business, or showing favour or disfavour to any person in relation to such business. The company's chief financial officer Wu Guangyi was also interviewed by the CPIB as part of its investigation. He was not arrested and, to the best of his knowledge, is not the subject of an investigation. Starburst noted that in connection with the investigations, certain records and documents of Starburst Engineering and electronic equipment - including flash drives, hard disks and laptops - have been handed over to the CPIB. In its Nov 15 announcement, Starburst had noted that the CPIB investigation is not related to the group's current projects, and accordingly does not affect the group's business and operations. On Wednesday, it said: "Save in respect of the standard conditions of bail applicable to Mr Lim, Mr Yap and Mr Ng, there have been no other conditions or restrictions imposed by CPIB on the relevant persons." The "standard conditions" include the surrendering of travel documents, surrendering to custody or making oneself available for investigations and attending of court as appointed. Yap and Ng's passports are with the CPIB. The CPIB has not requested Lim to surrender his travel documents, said Starburst. More on this topic   Related Story Starburst chairman, MD on bail amid CPIB probe; shares plunge 65%   Related Story Starburst boss sets sights on Middle East market "Each of the relevant persons has agreed to inform the company, on a continuing and timely basis, on any updates in respect the ongoing investigation and any subsequent developments thereto," said Starburst, adding that it will keep shareholders abreast of material developments. "The Board confirms that it will continue to monitor the progress of the ongoing investigation and the NC (nominating committee) will continue to re-assess the relevant persons' suitability as a director/key management of the company as and when there are developments to the investigation," it said. It advised shareholders and potential investors to exercise caution when dealing in its shares. Starburst shares were trading up 0.7 cent or 4.3 per cent at 17.1 cents at 9.26am on Thursday after the news.

SINGAPORE - A new centre has been launched in the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), providing more opportunities for biomedical firms in Singapore to expand into the Chinese market. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and SIP launched the A*Star Partners' Centre virtually on Wednesday (Nov 18). The centre aims to help Singapore biomedical start-ups capture opportunities in Jiangsu and the greater Yangtze River Delta region, which Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah noted has the most established biomedical ecosystem in China. Ms Indranee, who is co-chair of the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council, said that the biomedical and professional services industries are areas in which Singapore and Jiangsu can tap each other's strengths and deepen collaboration as they develop their economies post Covid-19. Speaking at the 14th Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council meeting on Wednesday, Ms Indranee noted that Singapore's biomedical industry is growing rapidly, with total output expanding at an annual average of 5.2 per cent from $28.2 billion in 2014 to $36.2 billion in 2019. "Our cooperation in healthcare and biomed is especially important in this era of Covid-19. Both sides can work together to facilitate the commercialisation of biomedical research and innovation in and through our respective markets," she said. Nine Singapore biomedical firms are setting up their operations in the centre in SIP to start. Firms will receive cost savings in equipment rental by accessing the centre's facilities, as well as funding support through the A*Star-SIP Green Lane Grant, and tap market access programmes to better understand the needs of the Chinese market and navigate the regulations there. In her speech, Ms Indranee said that Singapore has managed to sustain trade and investment momentum with Jiangsu despite the challenging circumstances this year. Bilateral trade between the two grew 1.6 per cent year on year to reach US$9 billion ($12.1 billion) between January and August 2020. Outlining how Singapore and Jiangsu can collaborate in professional services, Ms Indranee emphasised the importance of access to quality and a broad suite of professional services in setting up an overseas presence. Moves have been made to bolster business exchanges between Singapore and Jiangsu, she added. More on this topic   Related Story Singapore, Suzhou discuss ways to expand areas of cooperation beyond Suzhou Industrial Park   Related Story Suzhou Industrial Park has progressed rapidly to dynamic and innovative township: DPM Teo Chee Hean On Wednesday, Enterprise Singapore, Singapore's Economic Development Board and the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate more partnerships between Singapore professional services firms and Chinese enterprises. This will allow Singapore firms to explore new opportunities in the Yangtze River Delta region, and also allow Chinese firms to use Singapore as a launchpad to broaden their reach in South-east Asia. Another 10 MOUs were signed at the meeting on Wednesday, including an agreement which will see Mapletree Logistics invest in a project in Changshu, Suzhou.

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian markets mostly rose Wednesday (Nov 18) but investors were shifting cautiously as they weighed hopes for a virus vaccine against surging infections around the world that threaten an already stuttering economic recovery. While the mood on trading floors remains broadly optimistic about the long-term outlook, analysts said the coronavirus will continue to cause worry, while the head of the Federal Reserve warned of a "challenging" few months ahead. Joe Biden's election win - paving the way for a less bombastic presidency - and news that trials indicated two vaccine candidates had proved to be hugely successful have helped global markets bounce back strongly from a painful October. The breakthroughs by Pfizer and BioNTech, and Moderna a week later, have fanned hopes that life can begin to return to normal from the start of next year, particularly giving a boost to travel and tourism stocks. And Pfizer boss Albert Bourla on Tuesday provided more optimism when he said its drug had passed a key safety milestone, meaning it could now seek emergency-use authorisation from US regulators. "Overall risk sentiment could yet be sustained with more vaccine headlines likely over coming days," said National Australia Bank's Tapas Strickland. "Oxford/AstraZeneca results are said to be 'imminent' and if similar to the efficacy seen in the other candidates will be important given the amount of shadow production and supply agreements undertaken by AstraZeneca." After a healthy rally over the past 10 trading days, investors are taking a step back, with Wall Street's three main indexes all edging lower Tuesday. Asia was mixed - Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Wellington were all in the red but Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta rose. 'Challenging' outlook Raging Covid-19 cases across the US and Europe - and a pick up elsewhere including Japan and South Korea - are of immediate concern, analysts said. Traders are also growing worried that US lawmakers are not doing enough to agree on a new, much-needed stimulus for the world's top economy as it shows signs of slowing in the face of the new wave of infections. Months of talks ahead of the November 3 election failed to reach a breakthrough, and Republicans who are likely to keep power in the Senate show no signs of backing down to Democrat demands for a multi-trillion-dollar package. "With the election uncertainty out of the way it's about Covid; we've seen this exponential growth in cases," David Kudla, CEO of Mainstay Capital Management CEO. More on this topic   Related Story Pfizer reaches safety milestone for Covid-19 vaccine, CEO says   Related Story Coronavirus bigger risk to US economy than election dispute: Reuters poll "It's also about fiscal stimulus, when that finally comes, how much we get. We know we have good news on the vaccines, but those are out in the future." With no rescue package on the horizon, hopes are that the Fed will step in at its next meeting and ramp up its bond-buying monetary easing programme. Bank boss Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that "with the virus now spreading at a fast rate, the next few months may be very challenging". "So it's probably too soon to say with any confidence what the impact on the path of the economy will be from the vaccines." China-US tensions remain a concern, with US regulators pushing ahead with a plan that could see Chinese firms delisted from US exchanges if they do not comply with auditing rules, Bloomberg News reported.

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Credit Bureau Asia (CBA), a credit and risk information solutions provider, has lodged a preliminary prospectus for a mainboard listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019, CBA posted a net profit of $7 million, up 27.3 per cent from $5.5 million a year ago. Earnings per share stood at 3.49 cents, versus earnings per share of 2.71 cents in the preceding year. Revenue rose 8.6 per cent to $40.6 million in FY2019, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) gained 41.2 per cent to $23.3 million. CBA's business has two core segments, namely the financial institution data business and the non-financial institution data business, covering both consumer and commercial credit risk information. The group believes it has "strong growth prospects" in light of the impending issuance of digital banking licences and the upcoming commencement of the Credit Bureau Act in Singapore. Net proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) will be used for organic growth initiatives, strategic investments, regional expansion and acquisitions, as well as general corporate and working capital purposes, CBA said. It added that organic growth initiatives could include product development and credit score enhancements, software and platform development, as well as investments related to the development of its corporate credit reporting business in Singapore. CIMB Bank Berhad, Singapore branch is the issue manager for the IPO, while CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) is the underwriter and placement agent. More on this topic   Related Story IPO market seen as more lively in second half of 2020

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - The credit default shock waves rippling through China are hurting demand for sovereign bonds, with market watchers seeing the slide lasting the rest of 2020. China's 10-year government notes are set to drop for a seventh month in November, on track for the longest retreat since 2007. The decline has pushed the benchmark yield to a one-year high, with a technical indicator suggesting the bonds are facing the worst selling pressure since July. Behind the sour sentiment are worries that Beijing will tighten its monetary policy amid the economic recovery, even though lenders are challenged by a series of recent corporate bond defaults and a US$900 billion (S$1.2 trillion) funding shortage over the last two months of this year. The central bank's 200 billion yuan (S$40.9 billion) net cash injection on Monday (Nov 16) failed to dispel concern over scarcer funding supply. An indicator of trader expectations for money market rates is hovering near a 10-month high. "The yield will keep rising and it will be very hard for us to see a turn toward a lower rate this year," said Qi Sheng, a fixed-income analyst at Founder Securities in Beijing. "The demand for government bonds is quite weak, as corporate defaults are forcing financial institutions to hoard cash to deal with their clients' redemptions of funds." The defaults on Monday of a top chipmaker and a car manufacturer have triggered worries over the credit conditions of state-owned firms and their lenders. That can prompt financial institutions to sell the most liquid government bonds for funding, as their clients step up redeeming investments in corporate bonds. Adding to the stress, demand for cash will climb as banks need to repay at least 3.7 trillion yuan of short-term interbank debt and devote another 1 trillion yuan to buy newly issued government bonds by the end of 2020. They also have to navigate maturing policy loans. The People's Bank of China has taken a measured approach to monetary loosening this year, avoiding aggressive and broad stimulus deployed by the U.S. and Europe. Earlier this month, the authorities once again raised the topic of exiting their easing policies when PBOC Vice Governor Liu Guoqiang said such a move "is a matter of time and it is also necessary." The yield on China's 10-year government bonds climbed to 3.29 per cent on Wednesday, and the 14-day relative strength index on the rate hit 73.9. A reading above 70 signals to some traders the securities are oversold and could see a reversal soon. In July, the yield tumbled about 20 basis points in the two weeks after the gauge breached this level. Back then however, banks weren't challenged by tight liquidity or credit risks, and investors were a lot less worried about the PBOC's next move. "This confusion about the monetary policy stance may continue to weigh on market sentiment" even though the current sovereign bond yield is attractive, said Tommy Xie, an economist at Overseas Chinese Banking Corp. China is also looking to a euro-denominated bond sale that stands to benefit from ultra-low borrowing costs in Europe. More on this topic   Related Story Top chipmaker joins China's list of high-profile bond defaulters   Related Story Sovereign bond yields show the world is back in crisis mode

SAN FRANCISCO (BLOOMBERG) - It's been an eventful few days for Elon Musk. The billionaire tested positive for Covid-19, his rocket company launched four astronauts into space, and on Monday (Nov 16) his electric carmaker Tesla was named for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index. The last bit of news also means Mr Musk, 49, became the world's third-richest person, leapfrogging Mark Zuckerberg. Tesla surged as much as 15 per cent on Monday in after hours trading. On Tuesday, the shares ended up 8.2 per cent, pushing his fortune US$7.6 billion (S$10.2 billion) higher to US$109.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His wealth has jumped US$82.2 billion this year, the biggest gain on the ranking of the world's 500 richest people. Tesla will enter the S&P 500 on Dec 21 following months of speculation and one temporary setback, when the stock failed to make the cut during the index's quarterly rebalancing in early September. Tesla would be the biggest new entrant in the group's history. On Saturday, Mr Musk tweeted that he "most likely" had a moderate case of Covid-19 and has had symptoms of "a minor cold". On Sunday he tweeted he had no symptoms. That same day, four astronauts were launched to the International Space Station in a vehicle built by Mr Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. More on this topic   Related Story SpaceX capsule, carrying 4 astronauts, docks with International Space Station   Related Story Tesla to join S&P 500 next month as largest-ever new member

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singapore Airlines (SIA) has upsized its multicurrency medium-term note programme limit to $10 billion, up from $5 billion previously, the flag carrier said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Nov 17). Net proceeds from the issuance of notes under this programme will be used for general corporate or working capital purposes, or other such purpose(s) as may be specified in the relevant pricing supplement, SIA noted. DBS and Citigroup Global Markets Singapore are the arrangers of the programme. SIA's latest announcement comes shortly after the airline last week said its new $850 million five-year convertible bonds have been upsized amid strong investor interest, and will carry a 1.625 per cent coupon. The offering was four times oversubscribed by institutional and other investors, which enabled the carrier to upsize the deal from an initial $750 million and with more attractive terms for SIA, the airline said in a statement on Friday. HSBC was the sole bookrunner and lead manager of the sale. Since the start of FY2020/2021, including the latest issuance, SIA has raised about $12.2 billion in total. That includes $8.8 billion from its rights issue earlier this year, $2 billion from secured financing and more than $500 million through new committed lines of credit and a short-term unsecured loan. It also retains the option of raising up to another $6.2 billion in additional mandatory convertible bonds, which it can exercise by July 2021. Separately, The Business Times wrote on Tuesday that SIA's Covid-covered add-on travel insurance for Singapore-Hong Kong flights may draw air travel bubble travellers. For one-way trips, the only benefit available is travel cancellation and postponement, according to the website of AIG that underwrites the insurance. As for a round-trip departing from Singapore, the add-on coverage can include emergency evacuation and repatriation costs if the insured is diagnosed overseas. As at 10.02am on Tuesday, SIA shares were trading at $4.00, up $0.13 or 3.4 per cent.

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - A top Chinese chipmaker failed to repay a 1.3 billion yuan (S$265.6 million) privately issued bond, becoming the nation's newest high-profile debt defaulter. Tsinghua Unigroup said it wasn't able to repay on time the 5.6 per cent, onshore bond due on Monday (Nov 16), which constitutes an actual default, according to a company statement seen by Bloomberg News. It said the payment failure was due to tight liquidity. The announcement came after the chipmaker failed to win immediate approval from creditors to delay full repayment on the note, after a vote on the proposal was declared invalid, according to a separate document seen by Bloomberg. Backed by the prestigious Tsinghua University, the company said it will keep raising funds to repay investors the bond's principal and interest. A company official in charge of matters related to the bond couldn't immediately comment on the issue. Tsinghua Unigroup's bonds have tumbled since late October when its decision not to buy back a privately issued 6.5 per cent, 1 billion yuan perpetual bond triggered concerns about its repayment abilities. Worries about the chipmaker's finances and fate have persisted since two years ago, when Beijing ordered education providers to distance themselves from commercial operations. The company has been struggling to avoid a similar fate that befell its archrival which became China's biggest onshore bond defaulter earlier this year. Peking University Founder Group, whose business spans from financial services to commodities trading, has been under court-led debt restructuring since February. More on this topic   Related Story China Evergrande bonds halted; world's most indebted developer hit by fears of cash crunch

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Trading on the Australian Securities Exchange resumed on Tuesday (Nov 17) following a software glitch that had forced the stock exchange on Monday to halt minutes after opening, in the biggest outage in a decade. The country's benchmark stock index gained as much as 0.4 per cent by 2330 GMT and was at its highest since March 3, the same level it touched before trading came to a halt on Monday. Bourse operator ASX had cited Monday's outage, which disrupted trading for the entire day, to an issue that affected trading of multiple securities in a single order and led to inaccurate market data. The issue arose after ASX's new equity market trading platform went live, despite more than a year of testing by customers, third parties, the ASX and its technology provider Nasdaq. More on this topic   Related Story Australia stock market closes 24 minutes from open in longest outage in decade

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Healthcare and energy firm New Silkroutes Group has appointed chief executive officer (CEO) VicPearly Wong as its executive director, and Lincoln Kwok as its finance director. With the additional role, Dr Wong, 44, is responsible for the overall management and operations of the group, as well as facilitating and managing the company, New Silkroutes said in a bourse filing on Monday evening (Nov 16). Meanwhile, Mr Kwok, 44, is responsible for the group's treasury, finance, audit and strategic planning functions. These include fund-raising, developing and maintaining banking relationships, and assisting the CEO in assessing and structuring corporate finance deals and investments, New Silkroutes said. Prior to this, Mr Kwok was financial controller at Hong Kong-listed Pipeline Engineering Holdings, which offers infrastructure pipeline construction and related engineering services. Dr Wong and Mr Kwok's appointments come after the resignations in October of non-independent, non-executive chairman Goh Jin Hian and finance director William Teo Thiam Chuan have resigned. New Silkroutes said then that Dr Goh, the son of former prime minister Goh Chok Tong, stepped down as its chairman to "focus on personal matters and to pursue other interests". Mr Teo, meanwhile, stepped down "to devote more time to his personal affairs", it added. The resignations of the two New Silkroutes directors came after the company disclosed on Sept 30 that Dr Goh and Mr Tan were being investigated by the CAD over a possible offence under the Securities and Futures Act. New Silkroutes said then that it understood the alleged offence was false trading and market rigging to do with past share buy-backs and share acquisitions. Dr Goh is also being sued by the judicial managers of an unrelated firm - oil trader Inter-Pacific Petroleum - over US$156 million (S$212 million) in losses it sustained due to his alleged breach of duties when he was its director. He quit in October as independent director of cord-blood banking firm Cordlife Group. Dr Goh was New Silkroutes' CEO till Oct 1, when he assumed the position of non-executive chairman. More on this topic   Related Story New Silkroutes plans independent review into deals signed with China entity   Related Story New Silkroutes appoints Darrell Lim as acting chairman after Goh Jin Hian's exit Most recently in late October, New Silkroutes said it will appoint an independent public accounting firm to review matters relating to two of its agreements involving a China unit, and the valuation of its stake in a Thai firm. This comes after its auditor Deloitte & Touche gave a disclaimer of opinion on the financial statements of the group for the financial year ended June 30. Deloitte said in its Oct 14 report that it was unable to obtain sufficient audit evidence on matters including the business rationale, commercial substance and structuring of two agreements that New Silkroutes' wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai Fengwei Garment Accessory signed with a Chinese entity in April. The auditor had also said it could not determine the appropriateness of the valuation methodology used for Thai General Nice Coal and Coke. New Silkroutes shares closed at 8.6 cents on Monday, up 0.1 cent or 1.2 per cent, before the announcements of Dr Wong and Mr Kwok's appointments.

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Australian casino giant Crown Resorts said on Tuesday (Nov 17) it would permanently stop dealing with all gambling tour operators, unless they were licenced and approved by all gaming regulators in the states the company operates in. An inquiry was called by the casino regulator of New South Wales state after 2019 media reports accused Crown of dealing with gambling tour - or "junket" - operators with links to organised crime to bring Chinese high rollers to its current flagship asset in Melbourne. In September 2020, Crown suspended all activity with these operators until June 2021 to undertake a review of its dealings with them.

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's industrial output rose at a faster-than-expected pace in October, while retail sales continued to recover albeit at a slower-than-forecast pace as the world's second-largest economy emerged from its Covid-19 slump. Industrial output climbed 6.9 per cent in October from a year earlier, data from the National Statistics Bureau showed on Monday (Nov 16), in line with September's gain. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 6.5 per cent rise. After the pandemic paralysed huge swathes of the economy this year, the industrial sector has staged an impressive turnaround, helped by resilient exports. Now, with coronavirus largely under control in China, consumers are opening up their wallets again in a further boost to economic activity. Retail sales rose 4.3 per cent on-year, missing analysts' forecasts for 4.9 per cent growth but faster than a 3.3 per cent increase in September. China's auto industry reported robust 12.5 per cent growth in October vehicle sales thanks to surging demand for electric cars and trucks. Domestic tourism also saw a strong rebound over the Golden Week holiday last month, although levels were still well short of last year's. Fixed-asset investment rose 1.8 per cent in January-October from the same period last year, compared with forecast 1.6 per cent growth and a 0.8 per cent increase in the first nine months of the year. Private sector fixed-asset investment, which accounts for 60 per cent of total investment, fell 0.7 per cent in January-October, compared with a 1.5 per cent decline in the first nine months of the year. More on this topic   Related Story Alibaba's secret three-year experiment to reinvent the factory   Related Story China's economic recovery: Is the shine for real? China's economic recovery looks to be accelerating in the fourth quarter, with a rebound in demand, strong credit growth and stimulus measures expected to provide a strong tailwind into 2021. But surging coronavirus infections in Europe and the United States have prompted renewed lockdowns, clouding the global outlook.

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - CapitaLand has targeted to grow its China exposure in the sector to $5 billion over the next few years, from $1.5 billion. This will be done by redeploying part of the capital from asset recycling to new economy assets such as business parks, logistics and data centres, the property giant said on Monday. CapitaLand said tenants from these sectors typically enjoy "robust fundamentals and a supportive regulatory environment". As part of CapitaLand's active recycling, CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) has been designated the group's real estate investment trust (Reit) platform for non-lodging assets in China, with access to CapitaLand's pipeline in the country. CRCT will also continue to explore opportunities from third parties and acquire from the market, CapitaLand noted. Over time, CRCT plans to have a target portfolio mix of 40 per cent in integrated developments, 30 per cent in retail and 30 per cent in new economy. In line with these targets, CapitaLand has entered into agreements to divest its share of interest in the companies which hold five business park properties and the Rock Square mall in China to CRCT, it announced earlier this month. The five business park properties are located in Suzhou, Xian and Hangzhou, while Rock Square is located in Guangzhou. This makes the proposed acquisition CRCT's largest to date. Total acquisition cost has been estimated at about $822.4 million, the Reit said in November. Upon completion of the proposed deal, CapitaLand plans to enter into a joint venture with CRCT on the Ascendas Xinsu portfolio in Suzhou, with a view to extracting value from this mature asset through redevelopment, it said. CRCT also proposed earlier this month to acquire an 80 per cent interest in Singapore-Hangzhou Science & Technology Park (SHSTP) Phase I and an 80 per cent interest in SHSTP Phase II. More on this topic   Related Story CRCT to buy five business parks, remaining stake in mall for $1.01 billion   Related Story CapitaLand flags 'materially adverse' hit on full-year results from Covid-19 CapitaLand added that this expansion target is in tandem with the group's strategy to ride on China's economic transformation focusing on technology, services and domestic consumption. DBS Group Research in October said CRCT was a "China behemoth in the making", noting that it had an addressable pipeline of more than $33 billion from its sponsor CapitaLand as at last month.

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Axington has received a letter of demand from its landlord Klang Valley Projects claiming about RM15,592 (S$5,905) in rent arrears and late interest charges for September and October this year. These relate to its lease of a unit at office building Wisma Goldhill at 67 Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur, the Catalist-listed firm said in a filing on Friday night (Nov 13). The letter of demand, dated Nov 11, gave notice that the company was to repay the outstanding sums by Nov 17. If it fails to do so, the landlord will take necessary action including initiating legal proceedings against Axington without any further reference. The Singapore-listed company said that although its bank accounts had a "more than sufficient" amount to satisfy the outstanding sums, no payment had been made because it was in the process of changing the authorised signatories of its bank account since early September. Axington is thus unable to make any payments until such changes have taken effect, it added. The company came under the control of scandal-hit cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh in July this year. But The Business Times reported in September that the two were seeking to offload their stake in the firm. The Lohs and business partner Evangeline Shen are co-founders of Singapore-registered Bellagraph Nova (BN) Group, which grabbed headlines earlier this year by announcing a bid for English Premier League football club Newcastle United. But the BN Group became mired in controversy because of revelations ranging from doctored images showing former United States president Barack Obama to inconsistencies in claims and retracted press statements. As for Axington, after its takeover by the Lohs, the professional advisory services group in July proposed to change its core business to provide medical and consumer wellness services, and to acquire a Malaysian medical products distributor to kickstart this plan. However, the acquisition fell through last month. Ms Shen resigned as Axington chairman on Aug 30, along with three other directors who also left the board. In October, the Lohs also formalised their split, inking an agreement to separate their business interests from each other. More on this topic   Related Story Doctored Obama photos and unverified claims: How a S'pore-based firm’s bid for Newcastle United turned into an own goal   Related Story Loh cousins behind Newcastle bid to legally split all business interests Axington announced last Tuesday that it was seeking a new auditor after a plan to switch auditors did not pan out. Its shares have been suspended since July. The counter last traded at 22 cents on July 13.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Trading was halted on Sydney's leading ASX stock market for an extended period on Monday (Nov 16), as operators tried to fix "market data issues". Problems began shortly after trade opened for the week, forcing a market pause as ASX said it was investigating the cause. "ASX apologises for the disruption and is working to rectify the issue as soon as possible," a spokesman told AFP. The cause of the stoppage was not immediately clear, but an update to the trading platform was scheduled to go live on Monday, after almost a year of consultations and dress rehearsals. There was no immediate suggestion of a cyberattack. Earlier this year New Zealand's stock market was hit by what was believed to be an overseas cyberattack that disrupted trading for several days.

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Medtecs International is planning to transfer the company's listing from the Catalist to the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), it said on Monday (Nov 16). Separately, Medtecs also announced that the group will be included in the MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index from Nov 30, after market close on that day. The personal protective equipment (PPE) and hospital service provider said a transfer to the mainboard would better allow the company to attract institutional investors and reach out to a wider investor base, both within Singapore and overseas. It added that a listing on the mainboard would enhance the image of the company and provide greater visibility and recognition in the market. Medtecs said this is "particularly critical" amid the Covid-19 pandemic, where there could be pockets of opportunity for the company to tap in order to expand its business operations. Medtecs shares surged 11.5 cents or 13 per cent to $1.00 as of 11.06am on Monday, following the announcement. A hefty 36.9 million shares changed hands, making it among the top volumes on the Singapore Exchange. The company will be submitting an application to SGX for the proposed transfer, and will provide updates on the outcome in due course. Medtecs said the proposed transfer is subject to in-principle approval by SGX, as well a shareholder approval. The company would also need to meet the minimum quantitative requirements set out under SGX mainboard rules. With regard to the group's upcoming inclusion in the MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index, William Yang, executive director and chief executive officer, said: "The inclusion serves as a strong affirmation of our market-leading position, and will bring about higher trading liquidity and visibility to investors globally." More on this topic   Related Story Shares of PPE maker Medtecs up 7.4% after earnings boom   Related Story Shares of PPE maker Medtecs jump 16% after first-half profit soars