MAS puts more scrutiny on bank loans for property development

Singapore

A SPATE of aggressive land deals by developers last year has prompted the Singapore central bank to take a closer look at the way banks are financing development projects.

The Business Times understands that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is collecting more data from banks through a new survey sent out to them last month.

Some of the information sought by the MAS includes the size of banks' exposures and details of the loan facilities granted for each project such as the key covenants and loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, sources say.

Where additional covenants are required for loans with higher LTVs, MAS is also seeking more details on them. When approached, an MAS spokesman said: "MAS expects banks to adopt sound credit underwriting standards in their lending practices. As part of ou…