United Overseas Bank Ltd
(UOB), Singapore’s number 3 lender, became the first bank in the city state to
suspended its loans programme for London properties in the wake of
uncertainties caused by Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
As Brexit spooked global
markets and pushed the pound to multi-year lows, other Singaporean banks were
also advising clients about risks such as currency losses even though they have
not followed UOB’s move.
“We will temporarily stop
receiving foreign property loan applications for London properties,” a UOB
spokeswoman said in an email.
“As the aftermath of the UK
referendum is still unfolding and given the uncertainties, we need to ensure
our customers are cautious with their London property investments.”
The Singaporean dollar has gained 10% against the British pound since the
referendum, eroding the value of assets held in Britain.
Other risks for Singaporean
banks have been exacerbated in recent months by an economic slowdown in Asia
and rising bad debts in energy-related industries.
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Moody’s Investors Service today
revised the outlook on Singapore’s banks to negative from stable. This
reflected the “weaker operating conditions” against the backdrop of softer
regional economic and trade growth, Moody’s vice president and senior credit
officer Eugene Tarzimanov said.
Property consultants say data
on the number of properties purchased by Singaporeans in the UK is not
tracked that closely. Banks do not disclose lending data for UK property
purchases.
UOB’s 2015 result showed over
90% of its loans were to customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand Indonesia
and Greater China.
Singapore’s biggest lender, DBS
Group Holdings, said it continued to provide financing for property purchases
in London but was advising its customers to be cautious.
“For customers interested in
buying properties in London, we would advise them to assess the situation
carefully before committing to their purchases as there could be potential
foreign exchange and sovereign risks,” Tok Geok Peng, executive director of
secured lending, consumer banking group (Singapore) at DBS Bank, said in an
email.
Analysts said Brexit could slow
the sale of UK properties in Asia as buyers turned cautious.
“There have been London
properties available for the last few months before the Brexit. The question is
whether these properties can still continue to receive buyers in the
short-term,” said Alice Tan, head of consultancy and research at Knight Frank
Singapore.
UOB said it would review the
market regularly to determine when it could resume its property loan
offering. UOB runs an international property loans programme that also
covers properties in Australia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
