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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Jing Yang
13 September 2014
China Cosco Holdings has signed a landmark deal with Brazilian miner Vale for the transport of iron ore and the purchase of 14 very large ore carriers, which have been barred from entering mainland ports since early 2012.
The two companies had agreed on a contract lasting up to 25 years for China Cosco to ship iron ore for Vale, they said yesterday. To fulfil the contract, China Cosco will buy four Valemax vessels - giant ore carriers with a capacity of 400,000 dwt - and build 10 more.
The companies said further announcements would be made regarding the details and value of the deal.
In 2009, Valemax vessels were ordered at US$120 million each, indicating China Cosco’s purchase could cost more than US$1 billion.
Vale, facing much longer transportation distances to China than its Australian competitors, made an innovative move in 2008 to build the Valemax vessels, the world’s biggest bulk carriers, in a bid to achieve economies of scale and slash transport costs.
However the ban, in place since early 2012 after strong lobbying from Cosco, has crippled the super carriers’ ability to operate at maximum efficiency. Two-thirds of the Valemax fleet have since gone through Subic Bay, in the Philippines, for transshipment, discharging cargo to smaller capsize vessels, which have a capacity of 180,000 dwt, for the final journey to China.
There has been no official announcement from Beijing regarding the status of the ban. If the ban is indeed lifted, it could actually be positive for the shipping market, according to James Leake, a managing director at London-based Arrow Research.
“The capsize vessels used for transshipment collectively discharge at most 15 to 20 cargoes a quarter,” Leake said. “Bringing this practice to an end would have minimal impact on the market.
“But if this really means China is going to allow Valemax to enter China, I think it is a clear sign that China is aware of the difficulties for domestic miners to meet the demand of domestic steelmakers at current low iron ore prices.
“A ‘yes’ to Valemax would mean an admission that China needs as much imported iron ore as it can get, which has positive implications for the overall iron ore shipping sector.”