Expatriates working in Singapore's banking industry may soon find themselves without the generous company perks that range from housing allowance to country-club membership.

Some of the richest employers here are tightening their belts when it comes to giving expat workers their perks, thanks to the global financial crisis, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

"As the financial industry rides out one of the worst crises in recent times, we expect more banks to focus on cost containment," said Mr James Clemence, a Singapore-based partner with accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) international assignment services unit, as quoted by the news agency.

The cost-cutting measures, said Bloomberg, were a reaction to the United States sub-prime crisis, which saw the world's biggest financial institutions post billions of losses and writedowns in recent months.

Last week, Singapore forecast a slowdown in financial services, an industry that employs about 157,000 of the country's 4.8 million people, Bloomberg said.

According to the news agency, more than 30,000 people in Singapore work at major international banks, including Citigroup and UBS.

Quoting Mr Mark Ellwood, managing director of recruitment company Robert Walters in Singapore, Bloomberg said that at least a tenth of those workers receive expatriate-style benefits, typically after they make more than $200,000 a year.

Mr Ellwood said that "expat packages" dried up when Singapore was hit by the Sars outbreak in 2003. The perks returned in 2006 when banks had to compete for talent as well as match the rising cost of living, Bloom-
berg reported.

According to Mr Clemence, housing allowances in Singapore rose about 15-20 per cent over the past 18 months, said Bloomberg.

In Singapore and Hong Kong, fewer employers offer club memberships now, he added. Employees lose their bargaining power when the move does not solely address a business need, said tax partner Jill Lim at Deloitte & Touche in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.

In some cases, assignments are shortened to six months so the employee is not obliged to bring his family here.

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