Daily Briefing: Maybank Kim Eng cuts 5% of Singapore staff; Beauty salon booking platform Vaniday shuts down

And bridal studio Beautiful Love Wedding suddenly closed.

From CNA:

Maybank Kim Eng, the investment banking arm of Malaysian lender Maybank, has cut about 5% of its Singapore workforce as part of a "comprehensive restructuring" of its operating model.

In all, 3% of its total workforce will be affected by the restructuring, said Maybank Kim Eng.

The job cuts, announced to employees, come as Maybank Kim Eng relooks some parts of its operations, including its Singapore retail brokerage, regional institutional sales and research, and Hong Kong investment banking and advisory businesses.

It also comes amid a shift in customer preferences and dramatic changes in the investment banking landscape, said Maybank Kim Eng chief executive officer Ami Moris, citing the increasing automation and digitalisation of brokerage offerings as well as regulatory changes.

“Regrettably, this had necessitated a review of our staff strength to an optimum level,” said Ms Moris in a Maybank Kim Eng statement to CNA.

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Vaniday Singapore is shutting down its operations, the Rocket Internet-backed beauty salon booking service announced in a statement. Customers will no longer be able to book appointments beyond 15 December. No reasons were provided for its closure.

Vaniday’s financial troubles began surfacing this year. The company was reported to have pivoted its business to focus solely on Southeast Asia, after cutting its operations in Australia, Italy, the UAE, Russia and Brazil.

Read more here.

From CNA:

Couples who signed wedding packages with bridal studio Beautiful Love Wedding have been left in the lurch after the studio suddenly closed down.

Founder of Beautiful Love Wedding Nigel Lee told CNA he decided to close the studio due to rising costs. Noting that there were couples who signed packages with the studio as recent as two weeks ago, Lee said his team thought they would be able to raise the funds to continue the business, but they failed to do so.

According to the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE), it has received 34 complaints against the studio since its closing. More than $103,000 have already been forked out in prepayments by customers, said CASE executive director Loy York Jiun, adding that they have reached out to the studio about the matter.

Read more here.