Commentary

Striking the right balance between regulation and space for fintech innovation in Singapore

Singapore is an established financial hub and it represents a significant 25% to 30% of our GDP in the past four years. The financial industry is changing rapidly along with the disruption of technology. The traditional roles of banks are being challenged by financial technology (fintech) firms.

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Striking the right balance between regulation and space for fintech innovation in Singapore

Commentary

Data centres – a bright spot in the property market

The data centre market is growing at a CAGR of 20%, and Singapore is uniquely positioned to be a major beneficiary. Financial behemoths like Citigroup and OCBC maintain their own facilities while others use colocation centres that are available from providers like Singtel.

Commentary

Why background screening is the last thing you should worry about

Picture this: you finally land an interview with the company of your dreams, making it seem like all the time and effort taken to put together your resume and cover letter weren't all in vain. You floor the interviewers with your glowing achievements and wicked charm, and before you know it, you're practically one foot in the door.

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4 things you need to know about social commerce

The concept of social commerce isn't a new one. Just August last year, Yahoo announced its acquisition of the community-powered social commerce website Polyvore. And in September, Twitter revealed its tie-up with Stripe Inc.'s Relay service, which allows merchants to sell products through a "buy button" that developers can easily place inside their apps.

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Here's why investors in Singapore should buy gold

For much of the past two decades, you'd have done better putting your money in a shiny inert metal, than investing in the STI.

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9 sources of assistance a retrenched PME can go to

Singapore is tiptoeing on the brink of a technical recession. Outlook is depressing for all and it is expected to show up in more retrenchment across industries.

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Singapore's REITs – high-risk investment or safe haven?

With the real estate market in a downturn, can REITs be far behind? After all, residential prices have been in a free-fall for over two years. They declined by 4% in 2014 and then again slipped another 3.7% in 2015.

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Electric cars in Singapore: Can we handle what's under the hood?

Electric vehicles have been garnering a lot of interest in the past two years. It is no longer just the futuristic ambition of an automaker or a technology company. These vehicles are already on the road in some countries and their numbers are set to increase. Previously the high price of such vehicles was the deterrent for ownership but Tesla's latest announcement of its Model 3 quickly changed that public perception.

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Transforming the legal industry in Singapore

While the legal and accounting industry has been relatively shielded from "disruption," this is set to change as technology enters the picture. The challenge for the legal and accounting industry is to figure out how to be more efficient as profit margins erode with the "Uberisation" of professional services, where technology aids the sharing economy in providing cheaper alternatives for clients.

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Delisting – not such a bad deal

The recent news of NOL and Otto Marine's planned delisting from the SGX should come as no great surprise. Nor, indeed, should it be seen as bad news for the local market. If the regional capital markets have taken a hit this year, then that could be doubly said for energy gas and shipping sectors.

Commentary

How investors in Singapore can embrace the power of dividends

Every investor should own dividend-paying assets – and the Singapore stock market represents a great opportunity to do that right now. (We've put together a free special report that goes into more detail about why the Singapore stock market is particularly attractive… click here to download it now.)

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Singapore's luxury home market – bucking the trend?

The gloom in the property market is all-pervasive. Residential, commercial, and industrial real estate prices are in a seemingly never-ending downward spiral.

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Here's what SMEs need to know to compete more effectively

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute more than half of Singapore’s economic output and employ about 70% of the country's workforce. With the age-old saying that companies that win the war for talent win the war, it is important that SMEs work towards building a quality workforce, one that is comparable to their MNC counterpart.

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What Singapore companies need to know about compliance

A few years ago it seems like compliance was limited to a few heavily regulated industries. But over the last decade it has exploded in size, and an ever increasing number of companies in Singapore and around the world have implemented compliance programs. Why have so many companies made the investment?

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Tiger Airways: Incentivising talent through compensation

It was November 2012 and Koay P.Y., CEO of Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways Holdings Limited (Tigerair), was putting together a compensation plan to be submitted to the Board's Remuneration Committee (RemCo). This was to be a key solution to resolving a series of events that had adversely impacted the company in recent years, precipitating, what could be called, 'a state of crisis'.

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Fraud risks: it's closer than you expect

The recent discovery of a terror cell, the doubling of online cheating cases, and the ongoing investigations on third-party corruption scandals are signs of a new reality faced by Singapore businesses – the global threats of cybercrime, terrorism, and fraud are now a part of everyday life.

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