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InnoPac Holdings on Wednesday said it received a letter of demand from Saxo Bank, which is seeking a payment of S$14.69 million on negative balances under accounts maintained by two of Innopac's subsidiaries - Heritage Investment Corporation and Wang Da Investment. The letter of demand, dated June 1, was sent on behalf of the Danish bank by Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. In a filing with the Singapore Exchange, Innopac said that the Danish bank alleges the company is liable for the claim on the purported basis of a Memorandum of Understanding dated Dec 24, 2013 despite the said negative account balances being incurred by the subsidiaries without any guarantee by Innopac. The company added that at present, no legal proceedings have been commenced by Saxo against Innopac, and "the group will be evaluating the basis and merits of the claim and will take appropriate action accordingly". Pending the resolution of the claim, the board is of the view that the comp...

Charles Madhavan's suing over wrongful termination; company yet to address other concerns raised by him Almost a month after Magnus Energy parted ways with its newly appointed managing director and disclosed that the executive raised concerns about past transactions, the company has yet to tell shareholders what those concerns involved. In an announcement on Monday, Magnus said Charles Madhavan had on June 22 served the company a writ of summons in relation to his claim for wrongful termination. Mr Madhavan had raised questions about loans made by the company; a loan from chief executive Luke Ho; and a luxury car bought for a key management personnel. Magnus announced on May 28 the cessation of Mr Madhavan in his executive role, citing "differences with management and board". The Catalist-listed company, whose core business is in oilfield equipment supplies and services, also said at the time that Mr Madhavan had highlighted to the company's ...

Catalist-listed Magnus Energy Group said on Thursday that it has received a letter of demand from the lawyers representing its former managing director Charles Madhavan, "notifying the company of his claim for wrongful termination". Magnus Energy on Monday announced that it had terminated Mr Madhavan's position with the company, effective May 26, 2018. It said then that it had done so because of "differences with management and board" and "cessation pursuant to contract". The company also said then that it would convene an extraordinary general meeting to seek its shareholders' approval to remove Mr Madhavan as a director of the company. "Mr Madhavan has highlighted to (Magnus Energy's) sponsor some of his personal concerns regarding some of the company's past transactions. The company is in the midst of reviewing and will be responding to the sponsor's queries," its announcement then had said. Magnus Energy...

Investors caught by the 2013 penny stock crash may finally get the answers they have been waiting for. With trial dates expected to be announced shortly, Singapore's High Court could soon hear arguments about "wash trading", forced selling and who held the control over almost 200 trading accounts as it gets set to try the three individuals implicated in the saga. The historic trial - prosecutors have described the investigations as Singapore's largest securities fraud probe - will take place on a scale rarely seen in market-related cases. The defendants are looking at more than 370 charges altogether: Malaysian businessman John Soh Chee Wen faces 189 charges, former Ipco International chief executive Quah Su-Ling faces 178 and former interim Ipco CEO Goh Hin Calm faces six. Those charges relate to allegations that they manipulated the stocks of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital (now called Attilan Group) and LionGold Corp (collectively known as BAL). Those...

Investors with short positions above a certain threshold will soon have to report them to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and not just the bourse operator. The move, announced on Monday, will affect investors with a short position of at least 0.2 per cent of total issued shares or units or at least S$2 million - whichever is lower - who are trading in securities listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The MAS said the move - which takes effect on Oct 1, 2018 - "will improve transparency on short-selling activities in the securities market and enable investors to make more informed trading decisions". Short-selling refers to selling securities - such as shares, units or structured warrants - that a trader does not actually own at the time of the sale. The selling may be "covered", with the seller having borrowed the securities or made arrangements to deliver them. It may also be "uncovered" or "naked", which is whe...

The planned $5 million stock placement planned by Innopac Holdings could result in compliance professional Jack Lim becoming a new controlling shareholder of the investment holding company. Mr Lim, described as a private investor who works at an international bank, will take 2.5 billion of the five billion placement shares at the offer price of 0.1 cent a share. That will leave him as the largest single shareholder with a 26.42 per cent stake of Innopac's enlarged share capital. Innopac shares closed at 0.2 cent on May 25. Trading had been halted from Monday to the end of Wednesday. Innopac did not disclose who the other placees were but said they were independently procured by the placement agent and did not hold any shares in the company as at May 30. They are also not directors or substantial shareholders of the firm and are not related to each other in any way, other than being co-investors in the company. Innopac will use $2.25 million of the $5 million p...