Daily Briefing: Plunging oil prices sink Singapore’s banks; Swiber drops liquidation plans

And reclaimed city off Singapore triggers ecology fears.

The plunge in oil prices is catching up with Singapore’s three largest banks. On Thursday, Swiber Holdings Ltd., a small Singapore company that provides construction services for international oil and gas projects, said it filed a petition to liquidate its operations, after facing payment demands from creditors at a time when its business was under pressure. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., one of the largest lenders to Swiber, said it only expects to recover about half of the S$700 million ($518 million) it loaned to the firm and its units. Read more here.

Swiber Holdings Ltd., the Singapore-based offshore oil and gas services group, said it is dropping liquidation plans and intends to restructure its business following talks with the company’s major financial creditor. Swiber plans to operate under so-called judicial management, according to a statement to the Singapore exchange Friday. The arrangement would allow the company to continue operating under court supervision while attempting to turn around the business. Find out more here.

A planned multi-billion-dollar new city near Singapore is attracting interest from investors with promises of luxury living but there are questions over its future owing to China's economic woes and warnings of environmental catastrophe. Forest City, a $42 billion futuristic "eco-city" of high-rises and waterfront villas, will sit on four man-made islands on the Malaysian side of the Johor Strait just an hour from Singapore. Read more here.