By Dennis Chan, Deputy Money Editor

A FINANCIAL firestorm swept through the United States on Sunday, leaving a trail of destruction that radically recast Wall Street in just 24 hours.

The carnage gutted two famous US financial institutions - 158-year-old Lehman Brothers and 94-year-old Merrill Lynch - and now threatens to bring down scores
of other banks.

Some analysts are calling this the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Mr Wilbur Ross, a respected US billionaire financier, has
predicted that as many as a thousand banks may fail in the months ahead.

Bank's staff in Singapore face uncertain future

By Francis Chan

TWO groups of people in Singapore have been left fretting over the demise of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

First, its staff of about 270 based at Suntec City who, industry sources say, should learn of their future today once it had been communicated from the bank's
US headquarters overnight.

The second are investors who bought Lehman products and will now be wondering if they can get their money back.

Merrill employees in Singapore: Safe for now?

By Robin Chan

Sombre bankers at Merrill Lynch's Singapore office were yesterday nervously assessing the likely impact of the dramatic events on Wall Street on the bank's
sizeable operations here.

The local office, located at Marina Bay, employs 700 - 800 staff, with another 900 in back office operations in Harbourfront.

With little news filtering through to employees from management, Merrill staff here stayed glued to their computer screens to follow newswire stories.

Temasek could reap substantial gains

TEMASEK Holdings could reap a gain of US$1.5 billion (S$2.1 billion) from the US$50 billion sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America (BOA).

At US$29 a share, Temasek, the largest stakeholder in Merrill, could reap these very substantial gains from the all-stock swap, said Bloomberg News.

The Singapore investment company has invested over US$5.9 billion since December last year in a 14 per cent stake in Merrill.

AIA policyholders get assurance

By Lorna Tan

THE world's largest insurer, New York-based American International Group (AIG), is rushing out details of plans to turn around the firm, which has been hit by
the United States financial crisis.

But Singapore policyholders of its subsidiaries AIA and American Home Assurance Singapore (AHA) have been reassured that their policies will be honoured -
irrespective of the turmoil.

When contacted, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday that AIA Singapore is required under the Insurance Act and Regulations to maintain
sufficient financial resources to meet all its liabilities to policyholders at all times.

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