SINGAPORE, Feb 6 Reuters Singaporean banks are set to post higher profits for the fourth quarter because of higher interest rates, though growth momentum is poised to slow as big central banks pivot toward rate cuts and volatile markets weigh on their mainstay wealth business.

The banks are also expected to see sharper scrutiny of their wealth management business, as a result of a 2.2billion money laundering scandal that hit the Southeast Asian citystate last year, affecting the flow of assets, analysts say.

DBS Group, Singapore39;s No. 1 lender by assets, will kick off the earnings season on Wednesday, followed by OverseaChinese Banking Corp OCBC and United Overseas Bank UOB this month.

We think earnings momentum for the Singapore banks has peaked, Thilan Wickramasinghe, Maybank Investment Banking Group39;s head of research for Singapore and regional head of financials.

The tailwinds enjoyed by rising interest rates in 2023 are unlikely to sustain this year, he added.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that interest rates had peaked and would move lower in coming months. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia39;s central bank said this week it had room to lower interest rates this year to lift growth.

DBS is expected to post a 2.9 rise in earnings per share EPS in the fourth quarter versus a year earlier, and the EPS is forecast to drop 2.09 in the March quarter from a year earlier, LSEG estimates showed.

OCBC and UOB are expected to show the same…