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.