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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By Polly Yam and Dominique Patton
08 July 2015
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese hedge funds have been big short sellers of locally traded commodities, including iron ore, steel and rubber, after redeploying cash from tumbling equity markets where authorities have slapped curbs on trading, fund managers and traders said.
The Chinese equity market rout, which has persisted despite a raft of unprecedented policy measures, appears to be the chief factor driving the sell-off in commodities.
There had been forced liquidation on China’s commodities markets due to margin calls tied to stock market exposure, as well as some short sellers taking advantage a flight of international investors from local markets, they said.
“Chinese funds recently have increased investment in commodities,” said a trader with a large Chinese hedge fund.
“There is no opportunity in the stock market in the short term,” she added, noting that bets could be short-term positions only due to the uncertain market conditions.
Secretive Chinese funds have had a growing influence in markets in recent years and were said by traders to be behind a number of big drops in copper in recent years.
On Wednesday, Dalian iron ore futures suffered the biggest slump and plunged nearly 8 percent to an all-time low of 349 yuan per tonne ($56/tonne).
Shanghai Futures Exchange steel, rubber, copper and nickel contracts were also pummeled as funds targeted markets with heavy exposure to the Chinese economy and active futures markets during the Asian trading day. [MET/L] [RUB/T]
Open positions in Shanghai copper rose 16 percent in three days to 590,870 lots as of Tuesday, while steel rebar and Dalian iron ore futures have also been rising as prices have fallen, indicating short selling interest.
Crude oil, gold, soybeans and palm oil prices also suffered losses, but did not encounter persistent pressure as traders appeared to keep their focus on markets where China has dominance in terms of global demand share as well as familiar domestic futures contracts.
A fund manager said the failure of authorities to stem the equity meltdown had scared off international investors, and presented local traders with the upper hand if they shorted the market.
“All major commodities were limit-down based on sentiment, not fundamentals,” said a trader in Shanghai.
“They (the funds) are shorting commodities to hedge their longs on stocks. The government doesn’t allow them to open shorts in stocks... So they’re shorting everything they can,” added the trader.
The euro zone’s uncertain future following the Greek referendum has also weighed on sentiment, spurring businesses exposed to product demand from Europe to dial down demand expectations over the near to medium term.
China’s own declining economic growth rate has also played a role, with steel makers and heavy industry needing less raw materials, leaving industrial metals vulnerable to short-term pressure.
And some questioned Beijing’s ability to pull off any major stimulus program akin to that in 2008 which helped engineer a broad recovery in commodity demand in the wake of the global financial crisis.
“I don’t think the government currently has the capability again to spend too much after 2008. It’s heavily in debt,” said Wang Li, a consultant at CRU Group in Beijing.
(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in MANILA and Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE; Writing by Gavin Maguire. Edited by Ed Davies.)