Daily Briefing: Singapore bondholders brace for defaults; SGX CEO apologises for halt

And developer sales down 50% in June.

Singapore dollar bondholders, already stung by the first default since 2009, face more companies struggling to meet the terms of their debt, after two oil and gas companies sought to extend maturities. Ausgroup Ltd. and Otto Marine Ltd. are among 10 Singapore-listed firms that have started a process to loosen bond vows this year, up from eight in 2015, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Read more here.

Singapore Exchange Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Loh Boon Chye apologized for a technical malfunction that angered traders, promising to do better and saying the company will be accountable for Thursday’s five-hour halt that attracted a rebuke from the city-state’s central bank. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it will review SGX’s investigation findings before deciding on “appropriate supervisory actions.” Find out more here.

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), property developers sold 536 new private homes last month, down 50 percent from the 1,065 units sold in May, according to fresh data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The significant drop in sales can be attributed to the lack of new units launched in June. Only 234 units were released to buyers, down more than 80 percent from the month before. Read more here.