Singapore | Exchange malfunction ruins CEO’s first anniversary

It’s safe to say this isn’t how Loh Boon Chye pictured his one-year anniversary as chief executive officer of Singapore Exchange Ltd. Not only was Southeast Asia’s biggest bourse forced to halt stock trading at 11.38 a.m. local time yesterday because of a technical malfunction, it failed to follow through on two pledges to restart the market. SGX eventually said trading would remain closed for the rest of the day. Loh, who took over at the company on July 14, 2015, replaced Magnus Bocker just a few months after the Swede was forced into a public apology in the wake of two trading disruptions in the space of a month. Those mishaps led to a reprimand from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The latest breakdown was at least the second malfunction at the exchange operator in the past year, after a near two-hour disruption in derivatives trading in August.

South Korea | Central bank lowers growth outlook on Brexit

South Korea’s central bank lowered its growth outlook on Asia’s fourth-largest economy yesterday, citing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. South Korea’s economy will likely expand 2.7 percent this year, compared with its April prediction of 2.8 percent, Bank of Korea said. Next year, it will eke out 2.9 percent growth. The downward revision follows the Finance Ministry’s outlook cut last month. It confirms worries that South Korea’s once dynamic economy will go through a period of slow growth. The bank blamed a drag in the global economic recovery due to increased uncertainties caused by Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

India | Increasing demand for air bags

The increasing demand for vehicular air bags in India has prompted Japanese automotive parts manufacturer Toyoda Gosei Co. to set up another plant to provide them. The new factory will cost about 900 million yen (USD8.5 million) to build and supply air bags and other parts to parent Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Corp.’s India unit, said Takatomo Abe, a spokesman for Toyoda Gosei. While India doesn’t have laws requiring automakers to install air bags in vehicles, an increasing number of automakers, especially foreign brands, have taken to equipping even lower-end models with them to attract car buyers.