Briefs

The construction of a $1.4 billion rail project linking Singapore and Malaysia’s southern state of Johor has been suspended until Sept 30. The move, which was announced on May 21, was mutually agreed to by both of the countries’ transport ministers.

“This does not mean we are terminating the project,” Anthony Loke, Malaysia’s transport minister, said at a joint press briefing here. “We just want to re-evaluate it, so that this project can be executed more effectively.”

In the event that Malaysia decides to cancel the project, both countries agreed that the former will compensate Singapore for abortive costs. The rail project, which was slated to complete in 2026, is designed to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in both directions. This is more than 30 times the capacity of the existing train service.

But now, the suspension and delay will come as a temporary setback to the thousands of Malaysians who commute to and from Singapore for work and school. It also marks yet another project that has been put on hold. Last year, the much-touted high-speed rail project linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur was suspended. The new Malaysian government, which came into power last May, pledged to tighten finances and review major projects.

Theresa May offers new Brexit deal

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has made her final attempt to get Parliament to back her Brexit deal. She has offered to resign if she fails — yet again — to obtain approval from UK lawmakers. The new deal includes the possibility of a second European Union referendum and for the UK to remain in a temporary customs union with EU. However, UK lawmakers remained unconvinced.

Among May’s staunch detractors is Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who described the new deal as “a repackaging of the same old bad deal”. Nigel Dodds, the deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party and an ally of May’s Conservatives, says the proposal had “fundamental flaws”. Even some Conservative lawmakers, who had previously supported May, say they would turn their back against her now. Moreover, the Scottish National Party and Change UK say they will oppose May’s latest deal.

This is compounded by the resignation of Andrea Leasom, leader of the House of Commons and a prominent Leave campaigner, on May 22. Leasom said she could not accept the new deal because the possibility of a second EU referendum would be “dangerously divisive”.

Amid calls for May to resign, it is likely her fate will be sealed if she fails to garner support for her new deal this time. The pressure will be on her successor to secure a new deal before the Oct 31 deadline.

Temasek issues Astrea V bonds

Astrea V, a private equity vehicle of Temasek Holdings, has announced the issuance of three tranches of new private equity bonds worth a total of US$600 million ($829 million). The bonds largely resemble Astrea’s IV’s 2018 bond issuance in terms of structure and features, as gleaned from its preliminary prospectus lodged on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Opera site on May 22.

Class A-1, which is the only tranche offered to the public, amounts to $315 million and will be redeemed at the end of five years. The tranche is expected to be rated Asf and A+ (sf) by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s 500, respectively. The “sf” suffix refers to structured financial instrument.

Classes A-2 and B, however, are not offered to the public, but will be offered only to accredited investors and institutions. These tranches are expected to raise US$230 million and US$140 million, respectively. The Class A-2 tranche will be redeemed at the end of five years. Both tranches are expected to be rated Asf and BBBsf, respectively, by Fitch.

However, the coupon rates of the bonds have yet to be disclosed. If the 4.35%-to-6.75% coupon rates of Astrea IV’s 2018 bond issue are anything to go by, the coupon rates for Astrea V bonds could be at a similar range. That could mean the investor appetite for the new bonds is likely to be positive too. The Astrea IV bonds closed up 0.5% at $1.075 on May 23.

Instagram data security lapse

Photo-sharing app Instagram appeared to have suffered a data security lapse after contact information belonging to over 49 million users — including influencers and celebrities — were discovered online. The data — stored in a database hosted by Amazon Web Services — was reportedly left exposed and without a password. This allowed anyone to access user data such as biodata, profile picture, email and phone numbers. The unsecured database was discovered by a security researcher and traced to a Mumbai-based company called Chtrbox.

Instagram is investigating the origin of the data. “We’re looking into the issue to understand if the data described — including email and phone numbers — was from Instagram or other sources. We’re also inquiring with Chtrbox to understand where this data came from and how it became publicly available,” it says in a statement.

This latest gaffe could result in scrutiny returning on Facebook, which owns Instagram. Last year, the social media giant got caught up in a major political storm when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a UK political consulting firm, had harvested the personal data of millions of Facebook users without their consent.

1MDB auditor raided by Malaysian police

Deloitte Malaysia, which is one of the auditors of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, was raided by the Malaysian police on May 23. The move is believed to be linked to the investigation into the sovereign investment fund.

Malaysia’s Commercial Crimes Investigation Department reportedly sent a team of officers to the Deloitte head office. Documents and files were confiscated. However, no arrests were made as at press time.

Deloitte had audited 1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 financial statements. It was 1MDB’s third auditor after the fund terminated its earlier auditors, KPMG and EY. In early 2016, however, Deloitte withdrew its audit opinion on 1MDB’s financial statements.

India’s Modi returns as PM

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to power after his Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP)-led coalition secured a landslide re-election. As at press time, the BJP-led coalition won over 300 seats out of a total of 542 seats. The thumping victory, which affirmed his popularity, means that Modi will lead the world’s second most-populous country for another five years. It also marks the first time that a party apart from the Indian National Congress has secured two consecutive single-party majorities in Parliament. Fidelity International calls Modi’s win a positive development for India.

“With a clear majority in the upper house of the Parliament, the BJP has got a historic chance to take forward the reform agenda it had embarked in the last five years,” the asset management firm states in a May 23 commentary.

The win can help Modi push through a list of tough economic decisions, such as sticking to fiscal prudence and inflation control, implementation of a uniform Goods and Services Tax as well as a new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.