Daily Briefing: Singapore's private banks struggle to hire and retain RMs; Biotech startup RWDC Industries raises nearly $30m in series A funding

And the Transport Minister hopes that the agreement to suspend the RTS would be finalised soon.

From eFinancialCareers:

Of the top-20 largest private banks by RM headcount in Asia, eight employed fewer bankers at the end of 2018 than they did a year previously, according to new figures from Asian Private Banker.

Chronic talent shortages in private banking mean that the job market is almost a zero-sum game – the growth of RM workforces at some banks helps to trigger a decline in others.

Recruiting RMs into Standard Chartered (down 14 RMs) can be challenging because private banking is an underperforming division which made an operating loss of $14m in 2018.

The small declines at LGT, Safra Sarasin and EFG show how difficult it can be for European boutiques to hire RMs in Asia. These firms have all announced their intention to add RMs, but they failed to do so in 2018.

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From PropertyGuru:

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan hopes the supplemental agreement to suspend the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) between Woodlands and Johor Bahru can be finalised soon.

Whilst the bilateral agreement for the RTS link project did not include any provision for a suspension, Khaw explained that a supplementary agreement could be worked out “in the spirit of bilateral cooperation”.

In fact, this was previously done for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, Khaw said during a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Anthony Loke following a ceremony marking the inaugural landing of Malaysian carrier Firefly at Seletar Airport.

The two ministers had earlier revealed, after their meeting on 8 April, that Singapore and Malaysia were working on a supplemental agreement to suspend the 4km RTS link project for six months.

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From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based biotech startup RWDC Industries raised $29.84m (US$22m) in an extended Series A financing round led by Vickers Venture Partners and US institutional investor Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust.

RWDC’s existing investor WI Harper Group also participated in the round, according to a statement. Vickers and WI Harper last co-led a $13m Series A2 round in the Singaporean startup six months ago.

Founded in 2015 by Roland Wee and Dr. Daniel Carraway, RWDC produces medium-chain-length Polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA) biopolymers which has a potential to replace single use plastic items.

Read more here.