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The number of queries issued by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on unusual trading activity will be going down by half from Wednesday. Tan Boon Gin, chief executive of SGX RegCo, the bourse's regulatory unit, told The Business Times that the move will eliminate unnecessary queries over what he dubs "noise" in the market. "Markets view (queries) as a chilling effect on share prices," he said. "I'd rather issue fewer, higher quality queries, than a higher volume." A new system, which goes live on Nov 1, will be calibrated such as to allow prices and volumes to increase a bit more before a query is issued. The robustness of the regulatory regime will not be compromised, Mr Tan said. "We backtested this to make sure, with the benefit of hindsight, those cases we properly queried will still be queried under the new system. It's only those cases that we didn't need to query that will be (cut) from the system. As far as we...

Could Armenian miner Coeur Gold Armenia get lucky on its third attempt to list on the Singapore Exchange through a reverse takeover? Shareholders of struggling electronics engineering firm Dragon Group International will certainly hope so. But even if the reverse takeover deal works out, it is not clear if such a business will gain favour with investors here, especially with the scant information provided on Coeur Gold now. Mainboard-listed Dragon Group announced on Oct 19 that it is acquiring Coeur Gold for S$500 million in shares and cash, in a reverse takeover. It has entered into a non-binding term sheet with businessman George Howard Richmond for the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Coeur Gold Armenia. The announcement didn't provide more details on Coeur Gold beyond this: that it holds controlling interests in Vayk Gold LLC (VGL) and Vardani Zartong Ltd (VZL), which possess exploration rights to mine for gold, silver, antimony and copper in the Azatek...

Tycoon Oei Hong Leong has requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to oust Raffles Education chairman Chew Hua Seng. Mr Oei and his investment vehicle, Oei Hong Leong Art Museum Ltd, put in their request on Oct 21, Raffles Education announced on Thursday after the market closed. Mr Oei is seeking to remove Mr Chew from his position and replace him with one of the independent directors who will serve as a non-executive chairman. If none of the independent directors are willing to accept the appointment, Mr Oei seeks to direct the board to search for a suitable person to be appointed as a non-executive chairman. Mr Oei also wants the company to disclose the identities of those who have received stock from and the number of shares issued to each of these people during a recent placement of 95 million shares. The 95 million shares, which were issued and allotted on Tuesday at an issue price 30 Singapore cents, represent 8.96 per cent of the company's en...

Tycoon Oei Hong Leong, who has amassed a stake of more than 10 per cent in Raffles Education, wants a shareholders' meeting to remove its chairman Chew Hua Seng. In a letter delivered to the board of directors yesterday, Mr Oei proposed that Mr Chew, who is also the firm's founder and chief executive, be replaced by an independent director and his employment be terminated. If none of the independent directors wish to take the position, Mr Oei is proposing that the board search for a suitable replacement to assume the role of non-executive chairman. Mr Chew declined to comment yesterday. He is the company's largest shareholder with a 33.58 per cent stake, after a recent placement exercise. Mr Oei also wants Raffles Education to disclose the identities and the number of shares placed to each of the people who received stock in the placement exercise. The letter furnished no details of what prompted the action, but Mr Oei is a long-time shareholder in Ra...

Yuuzoo Corp seems to be taking steps in the right direction when it comes to raising its corporate governance, but operational execution remains a persistent challenge at the social commerce business. Without demonstrating any meaningful improvement in its core business, either in terms of actual usage or in terms of revenues, YuuZoo may have to incur significant impairments again this year when it reassesses the value of its franchisees. YuuZoo made a number of moves over the past several months in an attempt to address criticism about its accounting practices and corporate governance. The most significant was in June, when the company finally completed its annual audit for the year ended December 2016. That audit marked YuuZoo's adoption of more conservative accounting principles, especially in the way it recorded its revenues and valued the stakes that it held in its franchisees. YuuZoo has since revealed plans to appoint an independent third party to investigat...

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is loosening some rules that will affect remisiers, as part of a raft of proposed changes on securities trading and market practices. This is to encourage new entrants to the industry, it said. Notably, SGX is proposing to remove a requirement that trading representatives (TRs) who work outside the office have to inform customers and SGX, and get customers' permission. This is because off-premises broking is becoming more commonplace, and customers are getting accustomed to it. Broking houses still have to disclose the "limitations of off-premises broking", SGX said. Another rule that will be changed is the prescription that a broking house has to collect a S$30,000 minimum deposit from a remisier, and more if the volume of transactions is bigger. SGX is proposing to remove the minimum amount prescription, noting that it will give broking houses more flexibility to determine what the appropriate amount is. "Th...

Catalist-lilsted Alliance Mineral Assets Ltd got much better terms in its recently concluded renegotiations with Burwill Commodity which is also funding and taking an equity stake in the lithium mining company in Western Australian, said its CEO. The company got more "lenient" terms from Burwill in the commercial re-negotiation, said Tjandra Pramoko, Alliance Mineral chief executive who flew to Singapore to speak to The Business Times on Monday. Last week, Alliance Mineral said that it was placing A$19.575 million (S$20.8 million) of shares to Burwill Commodity as its auditor flagged uncertainty about its ability to operate as a going concern if it were unable to raise more funds. The auditor, Ernst & Young, noted that the firm incurred a loss after tax of US$4.8 million for the past financial year, and experienced net cash outflows from operating activities of US$1.91 million. It had cash and restricted cash of US$9.08 million as at Sept 28. The company...

China Sky Chemical Fibre Co Ltd is looking to restructure via a reverse takeover even as it continues to grapple with outstanding financial and legal troubles. It listed a diverse range of projects that may potentially be injected into the group, including rural urbanisation projects in Beijing Huairou District, retirement living, health pension as well as tourism comprehensive development projects. The Fujian-based nylon fibre maker said in a filing on Monday that it is also looking at Fujian eco-agricultural tourism industry chain comprehensive development, food processing, "Tang Baoxiang" and other brands of vegetarian food franchise, breakfast vans to be operated by military families, and "sociality and consumer data operation projects". The beleaguered group had in October last year filed a lawsuit in Singapore's High Court against former non-executive director Zheng Kai Su for what it claimed was "fraudulent and/or unauthorised use of the...

Cash company Jaya Holdings will be delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after calling off a reverse takeover deal that failed to receive regulatory approval. Jaya, once an offshore fleet and shipyard owner, said on Tuesday that the proposed deal with Papua New Guinea finance firm Heduru Moni has been terminated. The SGX also rejected Jaya's application for an extension of time to obtain an operating business. With the collapse of the Heduru Moni deal, and without an extension of time from the SGX, Jaya or its controlling shareholders must now make an exit offer within a month from Oct 2, 2017. Trading of Jaya's shares will continue until Nov 1, 2017, and will remain suspended after that until the completion of the exit offer. The proposed Heduru Moni deal, which would have given Heduru Moni a backdoor listing on the SGX, hit a bump earlier this year when the bourse declined to give pre-clearance approval for the deal on the grounds that Heduru Moni was no...