Singapore

As the big names in global banking continue to tumble, more than a few eyes have been turning to the local markets to ask the inevitable (but unthinkable) what if it happens here? Hong Kong already experienced its own taste of possible disaster when a string of malicious SMSs sent Bank of East Asia depositors into a tailspin. In Singapore, life insurance company AIA saw round-the-block queues when its parent AIG received US government intervention, and policy holders panicked that their life savings were about to vanish. So far, the club of three banks – DBS, OCBC and UOB – seem to be holding their head above water. And analysts predict that, provided their loans’ business obeys the rules from the Asian Financial Crisis - where the local consumer loans held up and bad debts came largely from regional corporate exposure – the three should be OK.