Primary bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers reached a record $20.6 billion in the first half of 2026, marking a 16.7% year-on-year increase alongside a five-year high in deal count, according to data from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Issuance was heavily driven by major financial institutions like DBS, UOB, and OCBC, which accounted for nearly 70% ($14.4 billion) of total volume. Government and agency offerings also expanded rapidly, more than doubling to $3.4 billion, while industrial corporate debt contracted 16.3% to $864.4 million. OCBC topped the bond underwriting league table with $2.5 billion in proceeds (12.1% market share). Despite record issuance volumes, debt capital markets (DCM) underwriting fees plunged 30.2% year-on-year to $56.1 million.
Overall investment banking fees generated in Singapore rose 3.1% to a four-year high of $418.4 million, with DBS Group Holdings leading fee generation at $50.1 million (12.0% market share). Singapore captured nearly half of the total Southeast Asian investment banking fee pool. A breakdown across deal categories reveals:
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M&A Advisory Fees: Advanced 8.5% to $142.5 million.
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Syndicated Lending Fees: Surged 30.3% to $134.2 million.
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Equity Capital Markets (ECM) Fees: Fell 6.1% to $85.7 million.
Singapore-related M&A activity experienced a major surge, with announced deal volumes doubling year-on-year to $77.4 billion—the highest H1 performance since 2021—concentrated heavily in the first quarter. Mega-deals dominated, as ten transactions valued above $1 billion accounted for 68.0% of total activity. Outbound deal volume surged to a record $37.6 billion, headlined by GIC leading a $30 billion funding round for Anthropic. Targets within Singapore grew 87.0% to $28.1 billion, driven by a tripling in domestic transactions. Morgan Stanley led the M&A advisory rankings with $13.7 billion in deal value, while Technology ($43.6 billion) and Real Estate ($8.7 billion) stood out as the leading sectors.
Equity capital markets also saw strong momentum, with total issuance rising 7.4% to $3.6 billion, representing the strongest first half since 2020. Follow-on offerings reached a seven-year high of $2.3 billion, while local initial public offerings raised $878.1 million across five listings, including SGX debuts by JustCo and Kin Global. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and real estate issuers dominated equity proceeds, accounting for 85.6% ($3.0 billion) of total equity capital raised. DBS led all ECM underwriters, managing $757.8 million in proceeds.
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