Singapore: Bloomberg ordered to pay $356,000 in ministers' defamation suit
A Singapore court has ordered Bloomberg and one of its reporters to pay $356,000 in damages for a defamatory article regarding property transactions involving two government ministers. The outlet has removed the article and expressed disappointment with the ruling.
Why it matters
The case underscores the legal risks faced by international media outlets when reporting on the financial dealings of public officials in jurisdictions with strict defamation laws.
Image source, Getty Images By Koh Ewe Published 14 July 2026, 10:14 BST Updated 9 hours ago A Singapore court has ordered Bloomberg and one of its reporters to pay S$460,000 ($356,000; £266,000) to two ministers who had sued them for defamation over an article referencing their property transactions.
Last year, the ministers, K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng, sued Bloomberg and reporter Low De Wei for a 2024 article which had mentioned their property deals.
Bloomberg said it did not imply any wrongdoing and had used them as examples of a broader trend.
The judge found that when read as a whole, the piece implied wrongdoing by the ministers as it also mentioned secrecy and money laundering.
In a statement published by Bloomberg News, the outlet's editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said it was "very disappointed by this ruling but we will of course respect it".
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