Daily Briefing: Property sales in August could crash by 40-50%; Singapore data breach hit banks' health

And Temasek joins US$500m funding for co-working space WeWork China.

From iCompareLoan:

Property sales in August could crash by around 40% to 50% MoM amidst market slowdown from the cooling measures as well as the hungry ghost festival which starts in August that can make buyers think twice on buying properties, Cushman and Wakefield said.

Nonetheless, market fundamentals remain unchanged, noted Cushman & Wakefield. Although geopolitical tensions and the new property cooling measure impact have injected some uncertainty into the market, the property market is still positioned for growth.

Singapore’s economic outlook remains firm and Singapore aggregated household balances remain healthy and flush with cash. Furthermore, downside risks remains relatively low due to current new property cooling measure impact and loan curbs. Despite a higher barrier of entry, the value proposition of the Singapore residential sector remains attractive.

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From Bloomberg:

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) warned lenders to be more cautious with personal information after the cyber attack hit SingHealth and targetted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's information, specifically.

Whilst introducing additional layers of security such as one-time passwords or biometric identification means additional costs, most Singapore banks have such basic technologies already in place. Their bigger worry should be MyInfo.

In April, Standard Chartered Plc and the three homegrown Singapore banks — DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank Ltd. — began a pilot program to tap this state-built digital repository of citizen information for know-your-customer, or KYC, checks required to open bank accounts. The idea is to eventually use MyInfo profiles to issue credit cards, home loans and insurance policies.

The other impact could be on commingling. To enable them to compete with fintech players, Singapore’s regulators have relaxed post-1998 restrictions on banks’ ownership of non-financial businesses. DBS has invested in a property marketplace and in a digital platform for buying and selling cars; UOB has gone into holiday planning, while OCBC is pampering new mothers online. 

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From Deal Street Asia:

Temasek joined a US$500m Series b funding led by Chinese equity investor Trustbridge Partners for WeWork’s China arm.

“This investment will help WeWork fuel our mission to support creators, small businesses, and large companies across China,” WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann said.

The startup expanded to China in 2016 and has grown to 20,000 members across nearly 40 locations in three Chinese cities. It plans to expand to six new Chinese cities this year including Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Wuhan.

Read more here.