Little risk of home loans hitting local banks, says Maybank

[SINGAPORE] Unlike the fabled three little pigs, the trio of local banks appear to have built houses of steel. The chance of a fallout via the banks' mortgage portfolios is slim, a Maybank report said yesterday, despite the sharp lift in housing non-performing loans (NPL) at UOB in the second quarter.

"Don't worry, not house of straws," said Maybank analyst Ng Wee Siang in a report yesterday.

Still, based on its stress test, taking factors such as a 30 per cent collapse in property prices, OCBC Bank's earnings would be hit the most of the three.