Posts by Mark Darwin
MAS fines investment firm S$1.9 million for making big customer transactions without adequate checks
AAIM ran afoul of the central bank’s anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism requirements THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a penalty of S$1.9 million to Atrium Asia Investment Management (AAIM) for breaching the central bank’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements. Specifically, MAS said AAIM had processed…
Read MoreSingapore digital economy grew 6.6% in 2023; efforts to help SMEs adopt generative AI underway: IMDA
82% of SMEs have used at least one digital solution to enhance general business functions SINGAPORE’S digital economy grew 6.6 per cent to account for S$113 billion of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2023, up from S$106 billion in 2022. The digital economy accounted for 17.7 per cent of national GDP, which the Infocomm…
Read MoreSingapore digital economy shrank 2.3% in 2023; efforts to help SMEs adopt generative AI underway: IMDA
SINGAPORE’S digital economy shrank 2.3 per cent in nominal terms to account for S$113.2 billion of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2023, down from S$115.9 billion in 2022. (*See clarification note) The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said that the digital economy shrank in line with the nation’s nominal GDP, which fell 2 per cent year on year in…
Read MoreBOK’s Rhee sees softer economic growth closer to 2.2% this year
BANK of Korea (BOK) governor Rhee Chang-yong said economic growth may be closer to 2.2 per cent this year in a downgrade from a previous projection, as policymakers keep a watchful eye on the current health of the economy. The outlook for South Korea’s economic growth turned less optimistic last week after the central bank…
Read MoreApple ships US$6 billion of iPhones from India in big China shift
APPLE’s iPhone exports from India jumped by a third in the six months to September, underscoring its push to expand manufacturing in the country and reduce dependence on China. The US company exported nearly US$6 billion of India-made iPhones, an increase of a third in value terms from a year earlier, sources familiar with the…
Read MoreStarHub mobile network outage reported by users; over 2,000 reports on Downdetector
SOME StarHub customers experienced disruptions to their mobile network on the morning of Oct 29, leaving them unable to access the internet. Outage monitoring site Downdetector registered more than 990 reports at 7.46 am. More than 80 per cent of the reports were about mobile internet, while the remainder were over mobile phone network issues…
Read MorePrivate-jet boom comes to muni market with high-yield bond deal
MILLION Air, a luxury aviation company catering to the ultra-rich and high-flying executives, is borrowing US$120.5 million from Wall Street to expand its operations in Austin to meet pent-up demand for hangar space to park private jets. Originally founded for the Mary Kay cosmetics company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Million Air’s parent company plans to…
Read MoreCDL Hospitality Trusts’ Q3 net property income falls 6.8% to S$36.3 million
CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) posted a net property income (NPI) of S$36.3 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, down 6.8 per cent from S$39 million in the previous corresponding period. Revenue for the quarter was down 3.7 per cent on the year to S$67.5 million. The declines were mainly due to a normalisation…
Read MoreToyota, NTT to make 500 billion yen R&D investment for AI self-driving: report
TOYOTA Motor and Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) will invest 500 billion yen (S$4.3 billion) in research and development (R&D) to create artificial intelligence (AI) software to improve self-driving, Nikkei reported on Tuesday (Oct 29). The carmaker and the Tokyo-headquartered telecommunications major are planning to develop automotive software which will use AI to anticipate…
Read MoreStarbucks threatens to fire staff who don’t come back to office
STARBUCKS is telling its corporate staff they could be fired if they do not come to work at the office three days a week. Starting in January, Starbucks will implement a “standardised process” to hold workers accountable if they do not abide by the coffee chain’s return-to-office policy, according to a memo sent to one…
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