By the end of the year, Singapore should see its first asset-backed securitization aimed at supporting small- and mid-sized companies (SMEs) in a city-state more used to working with multinational companies and government-linked enterprises.
"By the end of this year, the financing landscape in Singapore should be very different from the past," said Inderjit Singh.
Singh is the chief executive of semiconductor manufacturer Infiniti Solutions Pte. Ltd. and chairman of the Action Crucible for Financing, or ACF, a private-sector body that has been working for several years to find ways to help cash-starved SMEs.
Singapore's 100,000 SMEs face difficulties getting loans from banks that, although flush with cash, can be conservative in their lending to untested companies. The government is also keen to promote entrepreneurship to reinvigorate an economy which is struggling to get back onto its feet.
