Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Town councils and Pinnacle Notes

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Town councils and Pinnacle Notes

I need to know which town councils invested in the Pinnacle Notes. If you have the details, please send email to kinlian@gmail.com indicating:

Name of town council
Pinnacle Notes - series and amount invested

Tan Kin Lian

11 comments:

Anonymous said...: see this:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/390407/1/.html

"It had invested another S$3 million in Pinnacle Notes Series 6, but this investment was unaffected. "

As you know, PAP is so "transparent" that no much detail can be found. Hopefully someone has more information.; April 29, 2010 9:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow!, Banks in Singapore are squeky clean while banks in US, Europe, Hong Kong being reprimanded by their authorities to pay back investors. That defies logics; April 30, 2010 8:52 AM
Anonymous said...: It says series 6 is unaffected.
It will soon go into redemption and the value is only 0.01%.
I wonder if they will report this in the newspapers.; April 30, 2010 8:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Sgp is the #1 in Regulator-Not-Doing-Anything.

It is a joke where the same authority goes around teaching other country about our system while when it comes to real work, as usual, it continue to ignore, pretend not the hear, like a deaf frog.

If they still get >60% votes this time round, good luck to Singapore future.; April 30, 2010 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Wonder whether the Town Councils join the class action as initiated by the American Lawyers KM, who came to town earlier this month.
The Councils are so secretive and quiet on this investment.; April 30, 2010 2:45 PM
Anonymous said...: Our Gahman already billions in their investments. What is another 6 million; April 30, 2010 2:49 PM
Anonymous said...: I wonder aloud whether Sgp Govt is like Greek Govt. Hid deficit until finally review by the new govt.....; April 30, 2010 8:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Mr Tan,
No exact info on what you want
Please see
http://www.eastliving.com.sg/index.php/Real-Estate-and-Related-News/Singapore-Property-News/Town-councils-exposure-$16m.html

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/390407/1/.html; May 01, 2010 11:06 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Does anyone have the email address of Goh Chin Lian, the journalist who wrote the article on the Town Council investments?; May 01, 2010 11:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Anon april 30, 1;18pm- You are right Singapore claims so much Communist China tries to learnt so much from us especially the Civil Services! Look at how MAS handles the Minibond fiasco, we ought to learn from Hong Kong which is part of the Comunist China!; May 01, 2010 2:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Came across the following article in http://www.futurefastforward.com/

Maybe Anon April 30, 2010 8:33 PM is also interested.

Thinking the Unthinkable: Singapore Sovereign Default – Time to Dump
Sing Dollars - By Matthias Chang (18/12/09)
By Matthias Chang
Friday, 18 December 2009

This article will annoy a lot of people, especially investors and
the government of Singapore.

But, a warning must be given as the year comes to a close and as we head into stormy financial waters in 2010.

In an earlier article, I have warned that the 2nd Wave of the Global Financial Tsunami will hit us between the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2010. It could be earlier, but for sure it will happen in 2010. The signs are clear.

2010 will be unusual and significant because the key factors that will trigger the 2nd wave will be sovereign defaults across major economies. The Dubai default is but a glimpse of what is to come in 2010.

But, I am more concerned with events unfolding in South-East Asia.

In the 1997/1998 financial crisis, the contagion started in Thailand
and within months spread across the entire region, even affecting
the so-called Tiger Economies. We, in Malaysia know too well the
effect it had on our economy.

The European Commission has sounded the alarm bells that some key economies are overly indebted and would pose a grave danger to the global economy.

See for yourself. As a percentage of the GDP, the debts of the
following countries are as follows: -

1) Japan 172.1%
2) Lebanon 160.3%
3) Italy 105.8%
4) Singapore 99.2%
5) Greece 97.4%
6) Belgium 89.6%

East European economies are tottering at the edge of bankruptcy.

Already, in the last few days, Greece is in turmoil and sovereign
default is a real likelihood. IMF has weighed in on the issue and
has demanded austerity measures, but Greece refuses to comply and
remain defiant.

If Greece is in a mess, what will happen to Singapore?

Singapore has 99.2% of debt to GDP and its external trade has
collapsed for good and will remain down and out for the near future,
well into 2011 at the minimum. Singapore investment agencies have
suffered substantial losses as a result of their dabbling in Wall
Street’s toxic wastes. The monies in these investments are lost for
good.

If the global economy remains stagnant, as it will be in 2010 and 2011, Singapore is a candidate for default and this can happen
anytime soon. And the contagion to the economies of South-East Asia
will be devastating, especially to Indonesia and Malaysia. Compared
to the situation in 1997/1998, the coming contagion will overwhelm
our fragile economies.

Many Malaysians who have made ill-gotten gains have parked their
monies in Singapore, thinking that it is a safe haven. This is
especially so for the rich and famous from Malaysia and Indonesia.

They better get their money out quick and park it somewhere really
safe – e.g. in China as when the shit hits the ceiling fan, you can
bet that the Singapore government will clamp down all exits and no
funds will be allowed to escape.

Ouch!!!

You are forewarned.

Get your money out of Singapore now! Dump Sing dollars!

Is Malaysia ready for such an eventuality?

Any responsible government must consider all probabilities and put
in place strategies and policies to avoid the fiasco.

I have heard from the grapevine that the political secretaries and
special officers (especially those having a long list of alphabets
after their names and with management consultant credentials) are not even aware that such an eventuality can occur in 2010 / 2011.

Others at the Central Bank and Treasury are also in deep slumber.

Sorry to spoil your Christmas and New Year holiday mood.; May 01, 2010 6:47 PM