TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issu...
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Largest futures market lifts by 22 per cent the level of cash speculators must keep on deposit to hold contracts; price drops most in 7 weeks, to US$1,756
Bloomberg in Singapore and London
12 August 2011
Gold futures fell the most in seven weeks after CME Group boosted margins on futures contracts, prompting investor sales after a three-day rally to a record topping US$1,800 an ounce and as equities rebounded.
Bullion futures for December delivery declined or 1.6 per cent, to US$1,756.50, in late morning New York trading after earlier touching an all-time high of US$1,817.60.
Bullion for immediate delivery dropped 2.1 percent, to US$1,755.85 an ounce, in London, after earlier reaching a record US$1,814.95 on concern that global economic growth is stalling.
CME, the world’s largest futures market, raised margins on gold contracts 22 per cent with effect from the close of business yesterday, its website said. The initial margin requirement, or the minimum amount of cash speculators must keep on deposit, would rise to US$7,425 per contract from US$6,075, CME said. The margin for hedging would also increase 22 per cent, up from US$4,500 to US$5,500, it said.
“We did see a bit of sell-off just after the announcement but at the end of the day there’s overwhelming upward pressure on gold because of the uncertainties in other markets,” said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Bank (Australia).
Gold in euros, pounds, Australian and Canadian dollars also surged to all-time highs.
“Bullish sentiments could be tempered in the short term as margin requirements to trade gold have been raised,” Phillip Futures analysts including Ong Yi Ling wrote in a note. “As the costs of trading increases, some investors could be prompted to pare bullish bets.”
Gold also declined on signs equities may rebound, easing concern the global rout will continue and damping demand for haven assets including bullion, US Treasuries and the US dollar. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures jumped as much as 1.7 per cent yesterday, after the index’s 4.4 per cent slump on Wednesday.
US Treasury 10-year yields climbed for the first day in four, while the dollar weakened against a six-currency basket.
Gold futures surged 8.2 per cent since Standard & Poor’s cut the US credit rating by one level from the top AAA grade on August 5. That announcement, combined with Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis, spurred a rout in global equities and stoked concern that the US may lapse into another recession.
Gold holdings in exchange-traded products climbed to a record 2,216.756 metric tonnes on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Assets have expanded 5.4 per cent this year and were at 2,209.526 tonnes on Wednesday.
“It’s just a complete breakdown of investor confidence,” said Gavin Wendt, director at Mine Life. “It’s not just even the US situation, but it’s also the European situation that’s really worrying markets at the present time. It just seems to be the domino effect.”
CME joins the Shanghai Gold Exchange in raising margins. China’s largest physical gold market raised the trade-margin requirement to 11 per cent from 10 per cent for gold contracts from settlement yesterday.