Trouble brewing for banks in spots beyond just oil

IT'S looking like a case of bleak and bleaker as the fourth-quarter 2015 earnings presentations of the three local banks get underway. On Tuesday, the only light moment at the media briefing of United Overseas Bank (UOB) came when its chief financial officer deadpanned "oil prices are so cheap people are throwing it away" in a reference to an oil slip on the roads in the morning, the fourth spillage in recent weeks.

UOB's chief executive Wee Ee Cheong tried to inject some optimism by naming developments - TPP, Asean Economic Community (AEC) and China's One Road, One Belt - though how these will benefit anyone is far from clear. The TPP or T…