Are there other Swibers lurking in DBS's balance sheet?

DBS can expect some serious questioning when it announces quarterly earnings next week. Investors may want to ask exactly how deep Singapore's biggest lender is into the oil-rig business, and just how bad the situation is for borrowers.

The bank said in an e-mail on Tuesday that it had been offering financial support to Swiber shortly before the oil-services group filed for liquidation. It said that as of end-June, Swiber had major projects with strong counterparties, and no overdue payments.

Swiber was also executing a restructuring plan that included bringing in a new investor to address its high debt levels by boosting equity, and was refinancing some of its vessels to raise cash, the bank said.