Briefs

The Ministry of Health has asked the Singapore Medical Council to get a High Court review of the case involving Dr Lim Lian Arn, who was fined $100,000 for not telling his patient about possible complications from a common injection. The SMC has already filed an application to review the judgement.

The fine imposed on the doctor by the SMC disciplinary tribune caused an uproar within the medical community. Doctors fear that such a judgement will set a precedent and lead to the practice of defensive medicine, where doctors recommend tests or treatments that may not be the best option for the patient but protects the doctor against the patient.

Over 5,000 doctors have signed a petition to appeal the judgement. The issue was raised in Parliament as well. “MOH will continue to engage with healthcare professionals to have greater clarity and balance in the practice and processes in the medical community, so as to enhance patient safety and, at the same time, also keep overall healthcare costs affordable,” says MOH.

Mindef to boost cyber defence

The Ministry of Defence will boost Singapore’s cyber defence with a new cyber training school and the recruitment of cybersecurity specialists. The new cyber training school will conduct courses for specialised personnel and improve “cyber hygiene” for servicemen and employees.

The school will help train 300 servicemen per year in specialised roles such as cyber incident response, monitoring computer networks and penetration testing of IT infrastructure and applications. Mindef will also be introducing the Command, Control, Communications and Computers Expert vocation under the military experts scheme and the Defence Cyber Expert under the defence executive officers scheme.

China-US trade deal coming as Huawei’s Meng to be released; Huawei founder Ren denies spying allegations

China and the US might reach a trade deal in the coming months, while Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou could be released as early as April, according to Xie Maosong, assistant to the secretary general of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.

Xie expects Beijing and Washington to hold further talks within the next three months based on agreements reached last week. While China may make concessions on trade, Xie believes that it will be firm against structural changes. He also believes that a deal will be struck in March that will see Meng released.

Meanwhile, Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, has denied allegations that the company’s telecommunications equipment includes “backdoors” that can be used by the Chinese government to access users’ data traffic. “Our company will never undertake any spying activities. And we will never accept anyone’s instructions to install a backdoor. If we have any such actions, then I’ll shut the company down,” says Ren in an interview with the BBC World News.

Ren’s daughter, Meng, is being held by Canadian authorities and facing charges in the US for allegedly flouting sanctions. Ren is not backing down from the worldwide pressure on Huawei instigated by the US. “If the lights go out in the west, the east will still shine. America doesn’t represent the world.”

Najib’s ex-media adviser charged with money laundering

Malaysian prosecutors have charged Paul Stadlen, former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s media adviser, with money laundering. Stadlen, who did not shy from showing off his lavish lifestyle on social media, was charged in absentia as he fled Malaysia immediately after Najib lost power last May. Stadlen is accused of laundering a total of RM15 million ($4.98 million). He was employed by UK-based public relations consultancy APCO International before leaving to work directly for Najib, as part of a large communications network outside the former prime minister’s official press team.

UBS cops a €4.5 billion penalty in French tax evasion case

Swiss bank UBS has been hit with a record €3.7 billion ($5.68 billion) fine and ordered to pay €800 million in damages after a French court found the bank guilty of helping rich clients evade taxes.

UBS has been found guilty of laundering proceeds of tax evasion and breaking laws on soliciting French customers. If the fine is upheld, it will be the largest of any tax case in French history and wipe out a year’s profit for the bank.

The Swiss giant has said that it strongly disagrees with the verdict and would appeal against the fine. It says the fine was “based on unfounded allegations of former employees”, rather than “concrete evidence”.

Glencore bows to pressure on climate change

Commodities giant Glencore has bowed to investor pressure over climate change, a sign of a shifting tide in the natural resources industry. Glencore has now promised to limit coal production and align its business with the Paris climate targets.

This turnaround is a surprise from a company that spoke glowingly of coal in the past and snapped up Australian mines from rivals exiting the industry. This move comes as businesses are aligning on climate change despite US President Donald Trump’s commitment to expanding the coal industry.

Chinese premier raises concerns over credit expansion

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has raised concerns about the country’s record credit expansion in January. Li’s view differs from the move by the People’s Bank of China to support flagging economic growth through monetary stimulus. Li has been a critic of the large-scale stimulus launched in response to the 2008 financial crisis. He released a statement on Feb 20, warning of the risks from the credit deluge. He highlighted that bill financing and short-term lending were a large part of the rise, creating “arbitrage” and “empty cycling” of funds, and new potential risks.

Arbitrage and empty cycling refer to investors obtaining low-interest short-term loans to re-invest in high-yielding wealth management products. Li believes that structural reform and a focus on high-quality growth are the fundamental path to solving China’s long-term development problems.