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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Boutique fund manager ICH Gemini said on Wednesday it has launched a private equity fund in Singapore with at least US$110 million in capital that it will invest in mid-sized companies at growing or mezzanine stages.
ICH Gemini's anchor sponsor and director Ren Yuanlin, who is also chairman of mainboard-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, has committed US$100 million to the fund.
The remaining US$10 million are from the fund manager's other two major sponsors - Vincent Toe Teow Heng, chief executive of ICH Gemini's parent ICH, and Xu Fan, a director at ICH.
ICH Gemini said in a statement that its "wide footprint" in China will provide its investment companies with "access to the booming Chinese capital markets" and offer them exit strategies via a public listing or trade sale.
It added that it will focus its investments primarily on the infrastructure, consumer discretionary, healthcare and pharmaceuticals as well as environmental protection and renewable resources sectors.
Generally, its investments will range between US$3 million and US$10 million for promising growth-stage companies and between US$5 and US$15 million for more mature companies seeking later-stage funding, it said.