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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Andrea Sohsandrea
16 October 2014
Noble Group, which on Wednesday said it has received US$3.36 billion due to it, has had its ratings affirmed at BBB- by Fitch Ratings.
The largest commodities trader in Asia by revenue said it had received US$1.5 billion in cash for the sale of its 51 per cent stake in Noble Agri. This is the initial payment by Cofco, the largest grain trader in China that is leading a consortium to buy the controlling stake in Noble Agri. The final amount to be paid will be adjusted such that the final consideration will be 1.5 times the book value of the 51 per cent stake for Noble Agri for the 2014 financial year, which will be available in early March next year.
Besides this, Noble has also received, as repayment of an earlier loan, US$1.86 billion from Noble Agri.
Noble Agri had drawn down US$2.15 billion of a US$2.55 billion facility from ABN Amro to do so. The facility had been set up to refinance the shareholder loan, and is also guaranteed by Noble and Cofco in a 49:51 ratio.
Noble said it will use these amounts to repay a portion of its debt and for general working capital purposes.
The payments would result in Noble’s pro-forma leverage falling to 1.3 times for the 12 months ended June 2014, from 3.7 times for the same period without the transaction, said Fitch Ratings. Noble’s shareholder guarantee for Noble Agri’s US$2.55 billion loan was also included in the leverage calculations.
The ratings agency added that it does not expect Noble Group’s leverage to return to above 2.75 times, as its investments are usually not of substantial scale and mostly for securing off-stake agreements with upstream producers.
Fitch’s outlook for Noble is stable; Moody’s Investor Service had in April revised its outlook for Noble from stable to positive after announcement of the deal.
Shares for Noble, which were heavily traded with 14.7 million shares changing hands, closed at S$1.27 on Wednesday.