Singapore  - Singapore's central bank has signed an agreement with Dubai's financial regulator to cooperate in supervising banking, insurance and capital markets, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a statement Wednesday.

"It facilitates the exchange of information for supervisory purposes between the two authorities," the MAS said, of the agreement with the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

"Such cooperation helps to strengthen the supervision of cross-border operations of financial institutions under their purview," the statement added.

The MAS signed a similar agreement with Qatar's financial regulator last week.

India's leading integrated telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced that it has partnered with SingTel, the official sponsor of the Singapore Formula 1, to offer up all Airtel subscribers Free Incoming Calls while in Singapore on the race weekend.

This is an exclusive offering from Bharti Airtel for the Inaugural 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Grand Prix being held on September 28, 2008. 

Singapore - Banks in Singapore that sold structured products linked to the collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc have been asked to update investors on how much money they would get back, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Wednesday.

The request was made after it was learned that investors who bought HSBC Holdings PLC's Lehman-linked Minibond Series and DBS Group Holdings Ltd's High Notes 
5 could end up losing all their capital.

Singapore - For the third day in a row, hundreds of customers unconvinced of the soundness of American International Assurance (AIA) converged on the service centre in Singapore Thursday with many determined to surrender their policies.

"Even with the AIG bailout by the US government, everything is still uncertain," said Karen Tan, a 42-year-old woman with no intention of keeping her policies.

The US Federal Reserve bank's 85-billion-US-dollar loan to AIA's parent, American International Group (AIG), triggered little solace and so many more questions that the insurer opened a second service centre in the AIA Tower next door.

Wary policyholders were also lining up in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Singapore - Hundreds of anxious customers queued up following the near-collapse of US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) for a second day Wednesday, with many surrendering policies issued by its local subsidiary.

The queue was mostly composed of Singaporeans, but also included some policyholders from Indonesia.

Many American International Assurance (AIA) policyholders said the US Federal Reserve Bank's move to bail out parent firm AIG with an 85-billion-dollar bridge loan had not eased their concerns.

Singapore - Singapore Airport Terminal Service Ltd said Wednesday that it plans to start a low-cost inflight catering service to provide meals to budget carriers.

The service is to be operated by its wholly owned unit Country Foods Pte Ltd beginning in January, it said.

The company said it plans to leverage Country Foods' low-cost structure and expertise in frozen meals.

In addition to budget carriers, the meals would also be available for full-service airlines, it said.