Morgan Stanley aims to move to a new office in Singapore, seeking a bigger space in the financial district to accommodate its expansion.
The US firm is in advanced discussions for five floors at the upcoming IOI Central Boulevard Towers, which would give it certain signage rights, people familiar with the matter said.
The space, which would be able to house about 1,000 people, would cater to Morgan Stanley’s growing number of staff in Singapore, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is private.
Photo: Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley’s businesses across Southeast Asia have grown steadily, and it remains positive on the outlook for the region, a spokesman for the firm said.
He confirmed the plan to lease five floors at the new development from late next year, with the location to serve as the bank’s headquarters for Southeast Asia.
Representatives for the developer, Malaysia’s IOI Properties Group Bhd, did not reply to requests for comment.
Morgan Stanley’s expansion is being driven by growth in its fixed-income and wealth businesses, as well as an increase in technology and back-office employees, the people said.
The move to the Marina Bay area, next to the well-known Lau Pa Sat hawker center, would see it take up slightly more than 9,290m2 and move out of its current location, where it has been for more than 25 years, they said.
Global firms are boosting their presence in Singapore to manage or expand their Asian operations. A boom in private banking, family offices and other financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered demand for swanky offices in the city-state’s central business district.
In April, the overall grade A vacancy rate in Singapore was 4.6 percent, data from Colliers International Group Inc showed.
That was much lower than Manhattan and Hong Kong.
Demand is likely to continue to come mainly from banking, insurance and financial services, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts wrote in a note last month.
Morgan Stanley would be sharing space at the new development with Amazon.com Inc.
The property comprises 117,058m2 of grade A office space, IOI Properties Group’s Web site says.
The new office would provide the New York-based bank with the latest technology infrastructure and flexible workplace design, the spokesman said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS