Financial news Singapore: Job market news & employment trends for the financial recruitment industry in Singapore

The economy may be recovering fast from the recession, but companies here are still cautious about their bottom lines. And as a result, new expatriates are no longer offered the sort of packages their peers once enjoyed. According to headhunters BT spoke to, expat compensation packages have become more localised in content and structure. (Asia One) Newbridge Capital, the Asian unit of US buyout firm TPG Capital, sold the remainder of... Read more

China Pacific Insurance plans to spend 5bn yuan (HK$5.71bn) on shares placed privately by Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, the Shanghai Securities News reported, quoting market sources. (The Standard) Ping An Insurance, China's second-largest insurer, will merge its bank unit into Shenzhen Development Bank in a deal valued at about 29.1bn yuan (HK$33.21bn ) to consolidate banking operations and comply with a government regulation. (The Standard) Goldman Sachs Group is capturing a record... Read more

A hiring manager asked a candidate this question during an interview for a management accountant position in the finance department of a securities and derivatives exchange in Asia. The question in full If you had to pick a key on the keyboard to describe yourself, which one would it be and why? What the hiring manager thinks are the best and worst answers There are really no right or wrong responses, but... Read more

Citigroup plans to almost triple its workforce in China by hiring up to 7,500 people in the next three years. Citigroup, which has 4,500 employees in China, will hire more in that country that in any other Asia-Pacific market, according to Bloomberg's interview with Stephen Bird, Citigroup's co-chief executive officer for the region. (Reuters) The latest survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) ranks Singapore as the fourth largest foreign... Read more

The net profit of 16 Chinese public lenders accounted for 46 percent of the total earned by 1,829 mainland-listed firms, reflecting a booming banking industry that benefited from sustained credit growth. But analysts cautioned yesterday that banks would face challenges in the second half as China tightened liquidity, took further steps to cool the property market and cleared up local-government financing vehicles. (Shanghai Daily) China’s big banks are all majority owned... Read more

A shortage of attractive targets is preventing Japanese banks from expanding market share in the US through mergers and acquisitions, but the credit crunch facing US banks is boosting business in the world’s largest market, say senior Japanese banking executives. (Financial Times) Singapore will limit its number of foreign workers to a third of the working population. About 80,000 foreign workers will be added in 2010, lower than the 100,000 estimated... Read more

Bank of China blamed weaker non-interest income in the second quarter for its first-half profits coming in below forecasts. (The Standard) Temasek Holdings has hired a former Royal/Dutch Shell executive Glenn Corrie as its director for energy investments. (Asia One) The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest bank by market cap, cited multiple factors as challenges in the second half of this year after posting a record quarterly profit... Read more

A hiring manager asked a candidate this question during an interview for a C#/.NET developer role in a large international bank in Asia. The question in full Would you be able to work, code and deliver if I tell you that Google is banned in this organisation? What the hiring manager thinks are the best and worst answers Best: “No” Worst: Saying “yes” and then not being able to answer the most basic object-oriented programming... Read more

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China may report profit growth of at least 15 per cent tomorrow, helping bolster confidence in the country’s banks amid tighter government scrutiny of lending. (Bloomberg) Ping An Insurance reported a 28 per cent rise in first-half net profit, as growth in its insurance, banking and securities businesses overshadowed weak stock-trading results. (Wall Street Journal) Construction Bank said its net profit rose 27... Read more

Deutsche Bank started dark pool trading in Hong Kong yesterday, the German lender's first such platform in Asia, to meet growing demand. Citigroup said last week it plans to start dark pool services in Singapore next year after its off-exchange trading in Australia increased to a record in June. (The Standard) TPG has joined the queue of western private equity groups rushing to raise renminbi-denominated funds from Chinese investors that will... Read more

We interview Zuzana Kucerova, a global risk syndicate VP at Deutsche Bank, about her professional career, and why she’s currently training to fight in Vanda Promotion's IFS white collar boxing event in Singapore on 17 September. Has training for the white collar boxing imparted any skills that you feel are applicable to your job? Boxing is little bit like investment banking and life in general. Sometimes you need to punch and sometimes... Read more

China's central bank said it will widen overseas access to its domestic bond market as part of a program to promote the use of its yuan currency in international trade. The trial program, announced Tuesday, will allow some yuan held offshore to be invested in China's interbank bond market, where most government and corporate debt trades and which is now largely off-limits to foreign investors. Opening up more channels for... Read more

One of the architects of Nomura’s daring acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ European and Asian operations at the height of the financial crisis has been awarded a US$34m “golden handshake” after leaving the bank. Sadeq Sayeed, the former chief executive of Nomura’s European business and a long-term adviser to the Japanese bank’s board, abruptly resigned in March after failing to secure a promotion that would have given him The size of... Read more

Asian deal making is nearing the pace of two years ago, as healthy economies at home and stronger currencies in some cases give its champions buying power outside their home markets. (Wall Street Journal) China Everbright Bank, which is set to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange later this week, said net profit nearly doubled to 6.83bn yuan (US$1bn) in the first half of 2010. (Reuters) Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd... Read more

This question was asked at an interview for an analyst-level position in the property division of a large US bank. The question in full: You’re a team leader and you’re in charge of a small team of two. A financial tsunami strikes again and your boss orders you to fire one person to reduce costs. One of your employees is a smart guy, but he always completes his work late and doesn’t... Read more

Bank of Communications is expected to report a 35.6 per cent rise in first-half net profit on Wednesday, according to three analysts polled by The Standard. Another mainland lender reporting this week - China Construction Bank - is tipped to post a net profit growth of 28 per cent. But the analysts say CCB can top its peers in the long term as it will benefit considerably from the yuan's... Read more

China Everbright Bank Co will raise up to 18.9bn yuan (US$2.8bn) in the second-largest initial public offering this year in China. The bank finalised its offer price at 3.10 yuan, at the top of its price range of 2.85 yuan to 3.10 yuan apiece, the bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. (Shanghai Daily) China CITIC Bank said meeting the mainland regulator's capital requirement in the second... Read more

China Citic Bank, the banking unit of the nation’s largest investment firm, said it plans to raise as much as 26bn yuan ($3.8bn ) in a rights offer to strengthen capital and support growth. (Bloomberg) India’s central bank has launched a review of bank ownership regulation that is expected to lead to the re-entry into the banking sector of some of the country’s largest industrial conglomerates, such as the Tata and... Read more

Chinese banks have been ordered to account for around Rmb2,300bn ($340bn) in off-balance sheet loans in a move that could put some lenders under serious stress and require another large round of capital-raising. (Financial Times) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398) is offering a premium of nearly 28 percent, or about 2.1 times price-to-book value, to privatize its Hong Kong unit ICBC (Asia) (0349), according to a statement yesterday. (The... Read more

This question was asked by a multinational financial consultancy to an unsuspecting candidate interviewing for a corporate finance advisory position. And the candidate’s response was: “Umm, well, I guess it would be cool [inward cringe] if they said that I was a stand-up fellow, who'd made a lot of people happy, err, not by dying, and...yeah, that’s what I'd want said.” Did he get the job? Alas, my earnest and articulate response did not... Read more