SG Morning Call | Singapore Expands E-Money Trials; OCBC Makes First Acquisition

Singapore Expands E-Money Trials to Pave Way for Digital Sing Dollar

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is pushing ahead with plans to explore the potential of issuing and using digital money here.

The central bank on Thursday (Nov 16) published a blueprint outlining the infrastructure required for a digital Singapore dollar, and announced that it will be expanding trials on digital money.

MAS will also issue a “live” central bank digital currency (CBDC) for wholesale settlement, with plans to start developing CBDCs for wholesale interbank settlement next year.

OCBC Makes First Acquisition Under CEO Wong With Indonesia Deal

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. agreed to buy Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Indonesian banking unit, marking Chief Executive Officer Helen Wong’s first takeover since she took the helm two years ago.

Australia’s largest bank will sell its 99% stake for about A$220 million ($142 million), CBA said in a statement Thursday. Completion of the deal, subject to regulatory requirements, is expected in the second or third quarter of next year, the bank said.

Optus Parent SingTel Denies Software Upgrade As Root Cause for Outage

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) (STEL.SI), the parent of Australian telecoms provider Optus, said on Thursday a fault in Optus' safety mechanisms, and not a routine software upgrade triggered by SingTel, led to the 12-hour long outage last week.

More than 10 million Australians were hit by the network blackout at the Singapore Telecommunications-owned (SingTel) telecom firm on Nov.8, frustrating customers and raising wider concerns about its telecommunication infrastructure.

Temasek-Backed Carsome Cutting Hundreds of Jobs to Reach Profit

Carsome Group, which operates a Southeast Asian used-car online marketplace, is cutting hundreds of jobs to reduce costs as it works to reach profitability ahead of a potential stock-market listing.

The company is eliminating positions across Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and Thailand the hardest hit, people familiar with the matter said. Carsome has scaled down its operations significantly in those two markets, which it entered in 2017, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans aren’t public. It has about 4,000 employees.