Banks building tougher buffers to ward off bad debts

The credit outlook is dimming.

Singapore’s three biggest banks are building tougher buffers on back of a feared deterioration in asset quality.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, banks are particularly cautious on loans to the oil and commodity sectors. DBS has the largest exposure of $50b to the oil and commodity sectors, above OCBC’s $25b and UOB’s $17b.

“In our view, it is still early days for credit quality to deteriorate, as stresses in the oil & commodity sectors will take time to emerge. Even then, we believe risks will be well-contained. Singapore banks have already set aside more buffers for bad times. UOB’s outsized general-provision ratio was raised preemptively in the past two years (Figure 5) to counter potential slippages,” stated Maybank Kim Eng.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia