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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Chan Yi Wen
04 February 2015
Sino Construction, which of late has been aggressively transforming itself into a resource play, on Tuesday announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Magnum Energy, has entered into a joint-venture (JV) agreement with Primeforth Special Situation Fund, to establish and operate a company that generates and sells electricity from renewable energy sources, starting with palm biofuel.
Primeforth is a special purpose South Korean company incorporated in Cayman Islands. The JV company, to be named Magnum Modular Power Generation, will be incorporated in Singapore as a private company limited by shares, with an issued and paid-up share capital of S$1 million, comprising one million ordinary shares of S$1 each. Seventy per cent of the shares will be owned by Magnum Energy while Primeforth will own the remaining 30 per cent. The subscription of the shares in Magnum Modular will be funded from internal sources and is not expected to have any material effect on the net tangible asset and earnings per share of Sino Construction for the financial year ending Dec 31 this year.
Sino Construction is diversify into renewable energy production because it sees the liberalisation of power markets worldwide as having created opportunities for independent power producers to venture into the international market. With international efforts to reduce carbon emissions, most jurisdictions in the world have implemented preferential tariff rates for electricity generated through renewable sources, resulting in market opportunities for new entrants to the power generation sector.
Conventional power generation technologies are also generally concentrated in urban areas, which poses difficulty in delivering power to less developed regions or rural areas.
A Sino Construction spokesman said: “Our power plants, which are modular, compact, portable and commissionable within four months, are suited to serve these markets at competitive tariffs without the need of investments in transmission lines. The proposed investment into power generation would create a visible and stable cash flow and significantly enhance the potential for future profitability of the company as it gains a foothold in the fast growing renewable source power generation sector.”
Magnum Modular is conducting due diligence on South Korea, which is set to be its first market. To date, more than 150 sites have been identified as commercially viable for the project. The South Korean government provides preferential tariffs for renewable energy produced from plants of up to three mega-watts, Sino Construction’s non-executive chairman Andy Chee said, adding that the company plans to work with the South Korean government on a long-term fixed price contract for power produced out of its biofuel power plant.
Magnum Energy will be responsible for the business development and financial management of Magnum Modular, while Primeforth will be responsible for all operational management scenarios related to the execution of proprietary Micro Power Plant (MPP) renewable technologies and associated projects of the JV. The board of directors of Magnum Modular will consist of a maximum of five directors, of which three will be nominated by Magnum Energy and the other two by Primeforth. Magnum Energy will also nominate the chairman of the board of directors.
On Tuesday, Sino Construction shares closed trading unchanged at S$0.285.