IIFL lays off 11, suspends trading, research ops
Singapore’s first Indian broker is suspending its securities trading and research operations here, just over a year after joining the exchange.
Remisier kings
The cousins who have taken over Peter Lim’s throne View PDF
Comments
By KENNETH LIM
09 March 2012
Singapore’s first Indian broker is suspending its securities trading and research operations here, just over a year after joining the exchange.
‘We are restructuring our international operations,’ IIFL Asia executive director Prabodh Agrawal told BT.
IIFL’s asset and wealth management units in the country will continue to operate, Mr Agrawal said. The securities arm has already suspended trading activities. About 11 staff will be laid off, though some of them have been offered positions at other IIFL units, either in Singapore or elsewhere in the world, Mr Agrawal said.
The move is a reflection of IIFL’s plan to pursue new and better opportunities for trading and research, Mr Agrawal said. ‘The idea is to expand the business,’ he said.
Volumes in Singapore alone have been very low, so IIFL wants to eventually cover more than just Singapore, but still with a regional South-east Asia focus, which could include Malaysia and Indonesia, Mr Agrawal said. ‘Until that happens, Singapore on its own will not be profitable,’ he said.
IIFL became a trading and clearing member of Singapore Exchange in November 2010. At that time, Nirmal Jain, chairman of IIFL parent India Infoline Group, said he hoped to ‘leverage upon our research capabilities and effectively cater to global institutional investors’. India Infoline could not be contacted for comment.
IIFL Asia lost $2.4 million after tax in the year ended March 2011, according to India Infoline’s annual report. IIFL Securities, which is the securities trading arm, made $1 million after tax that year.
The move by IIFL comes in the wake of a trying year for the financial industry, as global economic concerns hit markets and economic activity in 2011.
US bank Morgan Stanley in January cut 10 fixed-income sales and trading jobs in Singapore and Hong Kong, including then co-head of fixed incomes sales in South-east Asia, Sneha Sanghvi.
France’s BNP Paribas in December 2011 was believed to be axing about 60 jobs in Singapore as part of a global retrenchment of about 1,400 staff.