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Singapore: Government Guarantee On Deposits, Ezekiel Vergara

Journal of Financial Crises

On October 16, 2008, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15 and the introduction of Hong Kong’s unlimited deposit guarantee on October 14, Singapore announced its Government Guarantee on Deposits (GGD). The GGD was meant “to avoid an erosion of banks’ deposit base and ensure a level international playing field for banks in Singapore.” It was administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulatory body, and was backed by government reserves totaling SGD 150 billion (about USD 100 billion). The program expanded upon Singapore’s pre-crisis guarantee of SGD 20,000, which was administered …