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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Ray Chan and Reuters
10 June 2015
Global index provider MSCI rejected on Tuesday the addition in 2015 of Chinese A-shares in one of its key benchmark indexes for global stock markets, dealing a setback to Beijing’s efforts to further open up its domestic capital markets.
MSCI said the China-listed shares will eventually be incorporated once outstanding market accessibility issues are resolved, but the next review for Chinese shares would be in 2016.
Remy Briand, MSCI Managing Director and Global Head of Research, said in a teleconference on Wednesday in Hong Kong that the inclusion of China’s A shares may begin anytime even before the next annual view in June next year as soon as the accessibility issues are resolved.
“The creation of a working group between MSCI and the China Securities Regulatory Commission is aimed to resolve investors’ concerns over quota allocation, capital mobility restrictions and beneficial ownership of investments,” Briand said.
He said the working group will involve executives on both sides and aims to spur the further opening of China’s A shares market and its inclusion in emerging-market benchmarks. The upcoming Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect programme could be the trigger point for MSCI to reconsider the inclusion process.
Kinger Lau, an equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said: “The Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock scheme could be up and running in fourth quarter of 2015, a key pre-requisite for A-share inclusion to global indices will be fulfilled and could open a special review by the MSCI.”
“In our 2015 consultation, we learned that major investors around the world are eager for further liberalisation of the China ‘A’-shares market, especially with regard to the quota allocation process, capital mobility restrictions and beneficial ownership of investments,” said Briand.
The decision to consider China again may fall outside of its regular schedule of classification reviews, MSCI said in a statement.
Briand emphasised that there is usually a 12-month period between the announcement of index inclusion and the actual implementation, giving fund managers the necessary time to prepare for an adjustment.
“The time for preparation (a 12-month period) is still relatively short in my view,” said Briand.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is tracked widely by asset managers, pension funds and insurers.
The inclusion of China’s A shares would have been a major milestone for the world’s second-biggest economy, as the decision could attract an estimated US$400 billion into the mainland’s stock markets.
MSCI did not include China’s A shares last year, citing investors concerns over the country’s quota system, clearing and settlement services, as well as tax related issues.
To eliminate part of the concern over the quota system, Beijing launched the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect in November last year, a move to broaden the investor base as the two quota schemes are largely allocated to large institutional funds like Fidelity and BlackRock.
One of the major hurdles for the A shares is that China’s stock markets are still not freely tradeable for foreign investors, as most overseas investors can only cash in and out of China markets via quota systems, including the qualified foreign institutional investor programme (QFII) and the renminbi version of QFII, or called RQFII, as well as the stock connect allowing investors to buy a selected basket of shares in Shanghai.
Regulators in Hong Kong and China have been progressively opening up and improving the accessibility of mainland capital markets. An exchange link between Shanghai and Hong Kong has seen heavy trading amid a rally to a seven-year top, and a Shenzhen-Hong Kong tie-up is due to follow this year.
Separately, MSCI said it will review the MSCI Pakistan index for potential reclassification to emerging markets in its 2016 annual market classification review.
MSCI said it will also seek feedback from investors on the accessibility of Saudi Arabia’s equity market following its opening on June 1 and gather information before considering whether to add the Saudi index to the review list for potential inclusion to its broader emerging markets index.