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 issue manager
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Kenneth Lim
Reports of a corruption probe into the China Everbright group sent shares of HanKore Environment Tech Group tumbling yesterday, casting a shadow over a reverse takeover between the two companies.
HanKore shares fell 18.5 per cent, or two cents, to a year-low of 8.8 cents following reports in Chinese media that the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was investigating the China Everbright group, China Resources, the Bank of China, China International Trust and Investment Corp and the China Merchants group on possible corruption charges.
A spokeswoman for HanKore, a water treatment specialist, said the company had not been able to corroborate the reports. The reports will not affect ongoing negotiations for a deal that will inject China Everbright’s environmental water investments into HanKore in exchange for China Everbright Water Investments owning a majority stake in HanKore.
In response to a Singapore Exchange query into its share activity, HanKore said it was still in discussions about the deal. Terms were supposed to have been reached in April, but the exclusivity period has since been extended to May 31.
The exchange urged investors to trade the counter “with caution”.
In a note to clients, DMG & Partners described yesterday’s price drop as “unwarranted” panic selling.
Even if the China Everbright deal does not go through, each HanKore share is worth at least 9.7 cents, or a multiple of at least 15 times estimated 2015 earnings, DMG analyst Sarah Wong wrote. The company’s organic business is also growing at a healthy pace, the analyst added.
“HanKore has been unfairly penalised from the negative newsflow on China Everbright,” Ms Wong wrote.
JP Morgan, in a note, recommended buying China Everbright International on dips, saying that fundamentals for the company remain intact.
China Everbright shares closed at HK$8.89 (S$1.43) in Hong Kong, down by 2.3 per cent or 21 HK cents.