Daily Briefing: More than 30 en bloc sales failed to find buyers; Bermuda court approves Noble Group's restructuring

And work pass administrative fees will increase in April 2019.

From Channel News Asia:

More than 30 en bloc sales failed to find bidders at the close of tender in 2018 including Park View Mansions in Jurong, Gilstead Mansion near the Novena area and Windy Heights condominium in Kembangan which have all made moves to lower their asking prices.

This comes on the back of July's cooling measures, as well as new guidelines aimed at cutting the number of shoebox units in certain districts and revised guidelines for indoor and outdoor spaces.

Other projects which maintained their asking prices following these measures saw their tenders close without finding a successful bidder. They include the Spanish Village condominium at Farrer Road, which made its second en bloc attempt in October at a price tag of $882 million. Its tender closed on 20 November without securing a buyer.

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

A Bermuda court approved an officer to carry out embattled Noble Group’s restructuring deal using a local kind of insolvency process.

The green light from the Bermuda court will allow Noble to avoid liquidation after its preferred restructuring plan was scuppered at the last moment by an investigation from Singaporean regulators. It means that Noble could emerge from restructuring as soon as next week after more than a year of hard-fought negotiations over its US$3.5 billion debt pile.

The Bermuda court process represents a Plan B for Noble and its creditors. They had hoped to avoid a formal insolvency process, which Noble has previously warned could hurt its contractual relations with counterparties.

Read more here.

From Human Resources Online:

There will be an increase in the application, issuance and renewal fees for a range of work passes including Employment Pass, S Pass and work permit from 1 April 2019, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Employment Pass:
Current
Application: $70
Issuance / renewal: $150

New (from 1 April 2019)
Application: $105
Issuance / renewal: S$225

S Pass:
Current
Application: $60
Issuance / renewal: $80

New (from 1 April 2019)
Application: $75
Issuance / renewal: $100

Read more here.