SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore on Thursday reported a surprise expansion in its economy in the first quarter, helped by a surge in financial services as trading in stocks and foreign exchange soared.

The Southeast Asian city-state, whose economy is heavily dependent on trade, manufacturing and financial services, said gross domestic product expanded 1.8 percent in January-March on a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted and annualised rate,

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The parents of a U.S. engineer found dead in Singapore last year said on Wednesday they will not take part in the rest of a coroner’s inquiry into his death, which they say was linked to a project involving the transfer of sensitive technology to China.

In a statement issued through their lawyers, Rick and Mary Todd said they had lost confidence in the system investigating the death of their 31-year-old son, Shane, who was found hanging in his Singapore apartment last June.

SINGAPORE/SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) – State Grid Corp of
China, the world’s largest state utility, has agreed
to buy large stakes in Australian power companies from
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings in a deal that could be
worth over A$5 billion ($4.93 billion), as it searches overseas
for higher-yielding assets.

State Grid will buy 19.9 percent of electricity supplier SP
Ausnet for A$824 million, and 60 percent of energy
infrastructure company SPI (Australia) Assets Pty Ltd (SPIAA)
for an undisclosed amount, Temasek unit Singapore Power
said on Friday.

SINGAPORE, May 14 (Reuters) – Singapore, the world’s
fourth-biggest offshore financial centre, said on Tuesday it
will adopt new measures to make it easier to share information
on potential tax evaders with other countries, including the
United States.

The Southeast Asian city-state, keen to avoid the kind of
onslaught on tax cheats being waged against Switzerland, said it
will sign up to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development’s (OECD) multilateral treaty on sharing tax details.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asia needs to guard against asset bubbles and its emerging economies must improve government institutions and liberalize rigid labor and product markets if they wish to reach the level of developed countries, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

“Emerging Asia is potentially susceptible to the ‘middle-income trap,’ a phenomenon whereby economies risk stagnation at middle-income levels and fail to graduate into the ranks of advanced economies,” the IMF said in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific.

SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) – The World Bank on Monday
scaled back slightly its 2013 growth forecasts for emerging East
Asia and warned about possible over-heating in the region’s
larger economies, but the global lender said the Bank of Japan’s
sweeping monetary expansion should provide a fillip to
developing countries.

Japan’s efforts to stimulate its economy through monetary
easing is likely to be “mostly good” for developing Asian
economies such as Thailand and the Philippines, which produce
components for Japanese exporters, the World Bank said.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The World Bank on Monday scaled back slightly its 2013 growth forecasts for developing East Asia and warned about possible over-heating in the region’s larger economies that could stoke inflation and asset bubbles.

The global lender, in its latest East Asia and Pacific Update, cut its gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for China by 0.1 percentage point to 8.3 percent for 2013, citing Beijing’s ongoing efforts to restructure its economy.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Businessman Eric Ding Si Yang has been charged with three counts of corruption relating to the sexual bribes case involving three Lebanese football match officials, Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said on Monday.

Singaporean Ding, described by local media as a bookmaker, will appear before the judge on Tuesday, the Attorney General’s office told Reuters.

SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) – Businessman Eric Ding Si Yang has been charged with three counts of corruption relating to the sexual bribes case involving three Lebanese soccer match officials, Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said on Monday.

Singaporean Ding, described by local media as a bookmaker, will appear before the judge on Tuesday, the Attorney General’s office told Reuters.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Three Lebanese soccer officials accused of receiving sexual bribes in return for fixing a match in Singapore involving East Bengal had their bail hearing postponed by a judge in the city state on Friday.

In the hearing, the prosecution said they opposed bail for FIFA-recognised referee Ali Sabbagh and assistant Abdallah Taleb, arguing they were involved in what ‘appears to be a syndicated operation.’