Following reports of property listings appearing on United Overseas Bank’s (UOB) website, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reminded banks to secure an approval on any business other than banking or finance.
“A bank which seeks to enter into an arrangement with another party to carry on any business (other than banking or financial business or those which MAS has expressly permitted) should seek MAS’ prior approval before doing so,” said an MAS spokesman.
Despite the removal of the property listings, the spokesman noted that MAS is looking into the case.
The advertisements included 11 new property launches and one overseas project in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, UOB has declined to comment on the matter, according to The Business Times.
Other banks noted that they have never put property listings on their websites, but they do send notifications on new launches to some customers.
A source from a rival bank revealed that they once thought of the same idea but their compliance unit did not approve it.
Several bankers acknowledged that they usually invite customers to property launches as it offers them a chance to market their special home loan deal on a particular project.
“When we have tie-ups with developers, we will share the details of the property launch with our RMs or relationship managers, who will then share it with clients,” said one banker.
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