HUAT AH PAP minibond lives again! come n invest u greedy morons

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

This is no longer the Lehman Brothers' this is Lee's Jinx n Loong version. The ending will be the same though.


http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/n...cond-half-2015

S’pore Savings Bonds to launch by second half of this year


Singapore Savings Bond applicants must have a DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB bank account as well as a Central Depository Securities account with direct crediting service. TODAY file photo
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BY
NEO CHAI CHIN
[email protected]ISHED: 5:49 PM, MAY 11, 2015
SINGAPORE — The Government could potentially issue S$2 billion to S$4*billion of the Singapore Savings Bonds this year alone, depending on demand, with the bonds set to be issued every month for at least the next five years, said Senior Minister of State (Finance and Transport) Josephine Teo today (May 11).

To buy the new bond, individual investors will need to have a bank account with one of the major Singapore banks — DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB — as well as an individual Central Depository Securities account with direct crediting service.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is working with the banks to set up the systems to launch the first tranche of the bond by the second half of this year. The exact launch date will be announced later, but at least a month before applications for the first issuance open. The low-entry, risk-free vehicle is aimed helping Singaporeans meet their long-term financial goals and save up for retirement.

The Savings Bonds were first announced in March. Today, amendments to the Government Securities Act were passed to allow the Government to issue the Savings Bonds as non-tradable securities, which is a “key design of the bonds to protect individuals from capital loss”, Mrs Teo told Parliament.

Investors can apply for each bond issue with a minimum of S$500, and up to S$50,000. They may each hold up to S$100,000 of the bond at any point in time. The Savings Bonds, whose principal is fully guaranteed by the Government, will pay interest rates that increase the longer the investment is kept, unlike conventional Singapore Government Securities (SGS) that pay the same rate each year.

Adding that there is no need to rush to snap up the risk-free investment offered by the Government, Mrs Teo said that if total demand for the bond exceeds the amount on offer in a particular month, the MAS will allocate the bonds to maximise the number of successful applicants.

Interest rates of the Savings Bonds will be higher than shorter-term fixed deposits but lower than longer-term Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies.

Mrs Teo said the bonds will have limited impact on the banking system as the size of the offerings will be “small” relative to total bank deposits.

The Government will consider allowing individuals to use funds from one’s Supplementary Retirement Scheme and CPF to buy the bonds. “It makes sense to start the Savings Bonds with cash purchases as it complements the CPF scheme. There are also ongoing reviews to provide CPF members more investment options. We’ll consider all these in totality,” she said.

Interest from the bonds will be tax-exempt and the investment can be transferred to beneficiaries if a bondholder dies, she added.

Investors may redeem the bond from the Government in any given month at the full purchase price. They will get to keep the interest paid out at six-monthly intervals even if they redeem the bond before the full bond tenor, said Mrs Teo. This is unlike fixed deposits, where investors have to forgo interest payments for early withdrawal of funds.

Mrs Teo said total interest payments in the first year would be equivalent to that of conventional one-year Singapore Government Security (SGS) bonds. If a bondholder redeems the bond after five years, the average earned interest per year will match the return of a five-year SGS issued at the point of purchase.

Mrs Teo said the Government will not use Singapore Savings Bonds proceeds to fund expenditure, unlike the practice by some other countries. Instead, proceeds will be invested, leaving the reserves unchanged.


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