Tough times for Asian bankers after oil plunge

Singapore

IT'S a tough time to be an investment banker in South-east Asia.

Singapore, the region's biggest stock market, is having its driest spell in six years with no initial public offering bigger than US$25 million in 2015. Mergers involving South-east Asian companies have dropped 45 per cent this year to the lowest level since 2009, bucking a 39 per cent rise in the broader Asia-Pacific. Adding to the woes, more than a fifth of all acquisitions, or US$43 billion worth, announced in the past twelve months were scrapped, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The dearth of mergers, down to US$20 billion, is taking a toll on bankers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is reducing its investment-banking team in Singapore about 30 per cent, while HSBC Holdings Plc's top equity capital markets banker in the region and the merger heads at Bank of America Corp and UBS Group AG are departing. Companies are reluctant to do deals or go public in the wake of low commodity prices that have curtailed growth in South-east Asian economies including Malaysia and Indonesia. "The mood on the street is very dismal," said Nichol…