tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86910173654330163152024-03-19T20:39:56.672+08:00Invest PositivelyGuanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.comBlogger1678125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-48955135535177565372022-05-06T23:17:00.001+08:002022-05-06T23:17:10.330+08:00Bankers quit jobs for shot at riches in UAE's 'Wall Street of crypto'<p>BLOOMBERG</p><p>In the shadow of Dubai's sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel, crypto executives rubbed shoulders with Emirati royals, Wall Street bankers and Instagram influencers.</p><p>The festivities in late March were organised by Binance Holdings in its de facto home of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is fast becoming a global hub for digital currencies.</p><p>Binance co-founder and chief executive officer Zhao Changpeng skipped the event as he recovered from Covid-19, but he was top of mind for partygoers who said they aspired to replicate his rapid ascent from software developer to one of the world's wealthiest people.</p><p>Following his lead, many are flocking to the UAE, which he has called the "Wall Street of crypto". The euphoria even has local bankers, lawyers and big tech executives pondering career pivots of their own to cash in.</p><p>"We see a lot of interest from employees in traditional financial institutions who want to work for us," Mr Richard Teng, the head of Middle East and North Africa at Binance, which is the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, said in an interview at Bloomberg's Dubai office. "We are actually recruiting a number of them."</p><p><b>Career pivots</b></p><p>In February, Binance tapped Mr Vishal Sacheendran, a former Bank of New York Mellon banker, as its UAE-based director for the Middle East and North Africa.</p><p>Mr Robbie Nakarmi, the firm's senior counsel in Dubai, joined late last year after almost a decade as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.</p><p>They are far from alone.</p><p>Mr Ahmed Ismail, a former banker at Bank of America and Jefferies in Dubai, pivoted in 2017. He launched HAYVN, an Abu Dhabi-based digital currency investment bank, with Mr Chris Flinos, a fellow Bank of America alumnus. </p><p>Mr Amir Tabch, former head of global markets at Emirates Investment Bank, is one of the more recent folks to decamp. He became CEO of DeFi brokerage Securrency Capital in Abu Dhabi last June after 16 years in the traditional banking sector. In his new role, he said he is looking to hire more bankers to help "bridge the gap" between traditional and digital finance.</p><p>Surging inflation is compelling more investors to consider investments in digital assets as a potential hedge, yet many who have piled in recently have been stung by steep losses. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, has almost halved in value since its peak last November.</p><p>The UAE's crypto-friendly policies - in contrast to tightening regulations in other jurisdictions - have lured the largest firms. In an interview in late March, Binance's Mr Zhao said Dubai is the firm's headquarters by any common interpretation.</p><p>"Wherever we go, the industry players do tend to follow," he added.</p><p>Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital said last month it is planning to move its headquarters to Dubai from Singapore, which has been more conservative with its regulatory approach towards virtual currencies.</p><p>The UAE authorities, meanwhile, are trying to strike a delicate balance as they promote the business-friendly environment that has made Dubai an attractive home for many of the biggest financial firms, while also seeking to navigate concerns about volatility and financial crime dogging the crypto industry.</p><p><b>Wealth funds</b></p><p>Wealth funds are also joining in. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala is investing in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, its spokesman Brian Lott said.</p><p>Investment firm Royal Group and ADQ, both controlled by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, are pursuing deals in the crypto space, people familiar with the matter said. Representatives for Royal Group and ADQ did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p>The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre said it registered a record 665 new companies in the first quarter of 2022, buoyed by an influx of crypto and blockchain businesses. The sector accounted for 16 per cent of all firm registrations in the quarter, according to the centre.</p><p>Dr Marwan Alzarouni, CEO of Dubai Blockchain Centre, said he expects more companies to move to the country.</p><p>Crypto is also becoming more commonplace for property purchases and even settling restaurant bills, demonstrating the broader appetite for it, according to Mr Yehia Badawy, the co-founder of crypto platform Rain, which received in-principal approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market in January.</p><p>The UAE is the Middle East's third-largest crypto market, trailing Turkey and Lebanon, with a transaction volume of about US$26 billion (S$36 billion), according to data compiled by Chainalysis from July 2020 to June 2021. While the region's crypto footprint is relatively small in global terms, it grew by about 1,500 per cent from the prior year, the data showed.</p><p>"We don't think we are seeing a blip or a bout of euphoria in the UAE," BitOasis CEO Ola Doudin said. "Over the next few years, those cities and markets that embrace this emerging sector will become what centres such as New York, London and Hong Kong have been to traditional finance."</p><div><br /></div>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-65996422333376791202022-05-06T23:14:00.005+08:002022-05-06T23:14:35.559+08:00Coinhako receives licence to provide crypto payment services in Singapore<p><i>Kang Wan Chern, Assistant Business Editor, The Straits Times</i></p><p>Coinhako, a Singapore cryptocurrency platform, received official approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday (May 6) to formally operate as a regulated provider of digital payment token services under the Singapore Payment Services Act.</p><p>The Singapore startup was granted a major payment institution (MPI) licence, allowing it to provide payment services without being subject to specific thresholds.</p><p>Coinhako provides investors, including retail investors, an exchange on which to buy and sell multiple cryptocurrencies using various payment methods including bank transfers and credit cards.</p><p>It also offers a wallet which is designed to facilitate the storage, transaction and trading of a wide variety of cryptocurrencies for all Coinhako users.</p><p>Last year, Coinhako reported a total trading volume of approximately $7 billion, representing an increase of 1,200 per cent from the previous year. It also reported a 522 per cent year-over-year growth in account openings during the same period.</p><p>It is so far the fourth digital token services provider to receive the coveted MPI licence. Last year, Fomo Pay, Independent Reserve and Triple A were granted the licence.</p><p>Last month, two other crypto firms, Revolut and Luno, received in-principle approval (IPA) from MAS to operate fully regulated cryptocurrency services in Singapore, including providing digital payment token services to retail investors.</p><p>The two firms were the latest to receive IPA after several others were granted similar approvals since the start of this year.</p><p>The approvals have been granted despite MAS announcing regulations in January prohibiting crypto service providers from advertising their services to retail traders.</p><p>In Parliament last month, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS, said that as at April 5, the central bank has received 580 licence applications to provide services under the Payment Services Act since it came into effect on Jan 28, 2020.</p><p>Of these, 87 applications have been approved, 11 rejected, and 147 applications withdrawn after engagement with MAS.</p><p>Around 170 entities remain exempted from licensing, whose applications are pending reviews.</p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-61548281926440093612021-12-18T00:56:00.006+08:002021-12-18T00:57:42.495+08:00Binance among firms stymied by Singapore's money-launder rules<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bloomberg</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Binance Asia Services, which recently withdrew an application to offer
cryptocurrency services in Singapore, didn't meet the central bank's criteria
for safeguarding against money laundering and terrorism financing, a person
with knowledge of the matter said.</span><div>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Monetary Authority of Singapore allows applicants to withdraw rather
than face an outright regulatory rejection, the person said, asking not to be
identified because the deliberations are confidential. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">No reason was given when Binance Asia, an affiliate of the world's largest
cryptocurrency exchange, said on Dec 13 it was pulling the application. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">MAS managing director Ravi Menon said in October that it would apply
"very high standards" in issuing the coveted crypto licences. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of the roughly 100 firms that have dropped out of the running so far, most
did so after failing to meet Singapore's strict criteria on countering
potential illicit flows, according to the person. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In all, some 170 companies applied last year for crypto permits in the Asian
financial hub after legislation regulating the payments industry became
effective in January 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Binance spokesperson Hazel Watts, in response to a request for comment, said
the exchange's decision to withdraw its licence application was made "for
strategic and commercial objectives only. Binance recently made a sizable
investment into the regulated exchange HGX, which rendered our application for
Binance Asia Services redundant." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Binance Asia Services has taken a robust approach to security, including
risk-sensitive application of measures to combat money-laundering and terrorism
financing, as well as mandatory "know-your-customer" protocols and
continued collaboration with the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Scan Centre to
combat ransomware, hacks and scams, Watts added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Binance Asia took into account "strategic, commercial and developmental
considerations globally" in its decision to withdraw the Singapore
application, the company said when announcing the move. It will wind down
operations at the fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading platform Binance.sg by Feb 13.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The central bank looks at applicants' understanding of risks related to
money laundering and terrorism financing when deciding on approvals, MAS
Chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in a reply to Parliament in July. It also
considers "technology risks posed by their business model, as well as the
adequacy of controls instituted to mitigate such risks," he said at the
time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">"MAS' approach to regulation under the Payment Services Act seeks to
facilitate innovation while ensuring that adequate controls are in place to
address key risks such as money laundering and terrorism financing," a MAS
spokesperson said in response to questions from Bloomberg, without addressing
Binance Asia's application. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Applicants are able to withdraw their applications should they see
fit, upon which those who are operating under exemption will be required to
cease providing regulated payment services," the MAS spokesperson said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Less than 70 companies are still waiting for regulatory approval to
officially operate cryptocurrency-related services in Singapore. Four firms are
known to be approved so far, including DBS Group Holdings' brokerage unit and
Independent Reserve. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><br /></div></div>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-88845133967665924162021-12-17T23:15:00.005+08:002021-12-17T23:16:50.475+08:00Crypto billionaire Zhu Su in early stage of buying S$49m GCB as trustee for 3-year-old<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Kalpana Rashiwala, Claudia Chong, Sharanya Pillai, The Business Times, 17 December 2021</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Zhu and wife recently granted option to buy Yarwood property
as trustee for child; all 3 are Singapore citizens</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">SINGAPOREAN crypto billionaire Zhu Su is understood to be in the early stage
of buying a bungalow in Yarwood Avenue on 31,862 square feet of land for S$48.8
million.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The price works out to S$1,532 per square foot (psf) on the land area. On
the 999-year leasehold site is an old 2-storey bungalow with 6 bedrooms that is
understood to be leased currently. It is ripe for redevelopment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Zhu and his wife, Tao Yaqiong Evelyn, who has a PhD in biology from the
National University of Singapore, were recently granted an option to buy the
Yarwood property, in the Kilburn Estate Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area - as <a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/a-property-trust-to-beat-absd-beware-the-drawbacks" target="_blank">trustee for a nearly 3-year-old child</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">All 3 are Singapore citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/cr%C3%A8me-de-la-cr%C3%A8me-0" target="_blank">Bungalows in the 39 gazetted GCB Areas are the most prestigious
form of landed housing in Singapore</a>, with strict planning conditions
stipulated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority to preserve their exclusivity
and low-rise character. One generally has to be a Singapore citizen to be
allowed to acquire a landed property in a GCB Area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zhu and Tao are understood to be
residing in a strata landed home in the Balmoral area owned by Zhu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zhu is regarded as one of the
most prominent crypto investors in the world. He and his Columbia
University mate Kyle Davies, now also a Singaporean, left their jobs as traders
at Credit Suisse in 2012 to found Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three
Arrows Capital.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fund started off trading
traditional currencies in emerging markets, according to a Bloomberg report in
May. It later diversified into cryptocurrencies and became one of the early
adopters of Bitcoin and Ethereum, benefiting from the global spike in investor
interest later on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Three Arrows is also the largest
investor in DeFiance Capital, which invests in decentralised finance. The fund
has invested in popular blockchain game Axie Infinity, and Mark Cuban-backed
Mintable, a Singapore-based non-fungible token (NFT) startup.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zhu and Davies, along with
influential pseudonymous NFT collector Vincent Van Dough, also started the
Starry Night Capital NFT fund.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The pair is among the crop of young
millionaires and billionaires minted from the spectacular rise of
cryptocurrencies. The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market
value, surged to an all-time high of over US$68,000 last month.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zhu has an active presence on
Twitter, where he has expressed bullishness on cryptocurrencies including
Dogecoin and Ethereum challenger Avalanche. Together with a crypto researcher
and writer who goes by the pseudonym Hasu, he hosts a podcast called Uncommon
Core that explores the ins and outs of the crypto world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zhu and Tao have been granted the
option to buy the Yarwood bungalow by a company owned by 3 members of the Guok
family linked to Soon Lee Holdings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Earlier this year, the family is
understood to have sold Zion Mansion, a low-rise apartment block on a site with
dual frontages on Holland Rise and East Sussex Lane, for S$56.7 million, or
about S$1,325 psf on land area of 42,770 sq ft. The property is within the
Holland Rise GCB Area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Boutique property agency Realstar
Premier founder William Wong described the S$1,532 psf for the Yarwood property
as a "fair price for the seller, given that the buyers will most likely
need to redevelop the entire house as it is already more than 20 years
old". "The redevelopment land cost for this area is in the range of
S$1,400-1,600 psf in the current market."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SRI co-founder Bruce Lye said:
"If you are looking for a GCB plot of more than 25,000 sq ft to redevelop,
this is one of the more fairly-priced sites."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Neither SRI nor Realstar were
involved in the transaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-7072385827012956812021-12-14T01:02:00.001+08:002021-12-14T01:02:12.178+08:00Binance in tie-up with Dubai government as questions over headquarters linger<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Claudia Chong, The Business Times,
13 December 2021</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BINANCE, the world's largest
cryptocurrency exchange, will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with the
government of Dubai for crypto-related activities, sources with knowledge of
the matter said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dubai is regarded as one of the
potential locations for Binance's global headquarters, along with France.
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, Binance's chief executive and co-founder, bought
his first home in Dubai in October.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Zhao told Bloomberg last month that
he bought the apartment to show Binance's commitment to the city, which he
described as "very pro-crypto".<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The government there is very
progressive, and it's a very good business environment," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Singapore was reportedly also
considered for Binance's global hub but the exchange's local arm has withdrawn
its crypto licence application in the city-state. The Singapore unit on Monday
(Dec 13) said it will shut down its operations in the city-state by Feb 13.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Binance is in a race to gain
legitimacy following increasing scrutiny from various jurisdictions over
concerns about regulatory compliance and potential money laundering.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The exchange, which shot to fame
with no known headquarters and licences then, is under pressure to establish a
global base soon. The Middle East and Europe have been tipped as potential
targets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While no formal headquarters have
been announced, Binance has been strengthening its ties with the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), which is pursuing non-oil growth and expanding in fintech and
blockchain capabilities. Zhao recently met with the heads of the Dubai
Blockchain Center and the Dubai Police's virtual assets crime section.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"We had a fruitful discussion
on opportunities, innovation, talent and investment that Binance can bring to
the UAE in line with the UAE Next 50 national strategy that was inaugurated by
the Government last year," Binance's former director for the Middle East
and North Africa, Omar Rahim, said in a LinkedIn post two months ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Richard Teng, who maintains ties
with the UAE after six years leading the Financial Services Regulatory
Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market, joined Binance's ranks in August to lead
the exchange's Singapore arm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In response to queries from BT, a
Binance spokesperson said: "Binance is establishing in multiple jurisdictions
globally. We are having meaningful conversations with governments, governmental
agencies and key stakeholders in various markets. We do not comment or
speculate on the issue of headquarters. When appropriate, we will release
official statements to keep the community informed of developments."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite withdrawing its crypto
licence application in Singapore, Binance has made moves to try to anchor
itself in the financial hub known for its world-class regulatory standards.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Its Singapore unit took an 18 per
cent stake in Singapore-regulated private securities exchange Hg Exchange,
though the acquisition is still subject to regulatory requirements. Binance has
been shopping around for a stake in Singapore-regulated platforms since as
early as the third quarter of this year, industry sources told The Business
Times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In July, Binance was revealed to
have given up its stake in cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX after FTX
announced a US$900 million fundraise, but with Binance missing from its list of
investors. Binance made the strategic investment in 2019, with plans to help
build each other's platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Separately, Binance said on Monday
it will set up a blockchain innovation hub in Singapore, exploring initiatives
such as incubation programmes, blockchain education and further investment
opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/binance-in-tie-up-with-dubai-government-as-questions-over-headquarters-linger-sources"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Link</span></a></span></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-20859620335870391662021-12-13T14:31:00.002+08:002021-12-13T14:51:33.567+08:00Singaporeans explain what it's like working for a Chinese tech company<p></p><div>Abigail Ng, CNBC, 13 December 2021</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>CNBC interviewed 10 current and former employees of Chinese tech firms to ask what work life is like in those companies’ Singapore offices.</li><li>The hours may sometimes go long, but most people who spoke to CNBC said the “996” work culture common among tech firms in China hasn’t been adopted in Singapore.</li><li>English-speaking workers described Mandarin being common in the workplace, as well as working on contract.</li></ul><p></p><p>Singaporeans who have worked at Chinese tech firms said job-seekers should be prepared to work long hours, especially when interacting with colleagues based in China.</p><p>“<b><u>There is no sacred day or time</u></b>,” said the former employee who found the use of Mandarin at a Tencent subsidiary overwhelming. She said her bosses, who are based in China, <b><u>sent her questions at night, during the weekend and on public holidays</u></b>.</p><p>“You could just ignore it, <b><u>but would you really be able to relax knowing your boss is waiting for your reply</u></b>?” she asked.</p><p>“There’s no real rest time, only work time and standby time,” she added.</p><div><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/singaporeans-explain-what-its-like-working-for-a-chinese-tech-company.html">Link</a></div>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-4248124338319346332021-12-13T11:43:00.004+08:002021-12-13T11:43:41.389+08:00Binance Singapore Drops Crypto License Plans in City-State<p>Binance’s
Singapore entity plans to withdraw its application for a crypto license
in the city-state, and will expel local users by Feb. 13, 2022, the
exchange <a href="https://binancesingapore.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4416402912525-Announcement-to-all-Binance-sg-users" target="_blank">said on Monday</a>.</p><div class="liststyles__StyledWrapper-sc-13iatdm-0 hmUMmI"><div class="at-list"><ul class="
"><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Binance
Asia Services, the exchange’s local affiliate, is one of approximately
170 crypto firms that had applied for a Digital Payment Token License in
Singapore, which would allow them to offer digital assets services to
local users. Firms are allowed to offer crypto services as long as their
license application is under review.</div></li><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Binance
will stop offering services through its local site, Binance.sg, by Feb.
13, 2022, closing all existing accounts. Users have to close their
positions by that date.</div></li><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Effective
immediately, Binance Singapore will not accept any new users, and will
not allow existing users to deposit assets on the exchange. Users can
continue trading in crypto until Jan. 12, 2022. After that, they will
only be able to withdraw crypto and fiat assets to third-party
platforms, until Feb. 13.</div></li><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Around 100 of the applicants have either withdrawn their filings or been rejected, according to the <a href="https://www.mas.gov.sg/regulation/payments/entities-that-are-no-longer-exempt-pursuant-to-the-ps-esp-r" target="_blank">Monetary Authority of Singapore</a>, while only <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/01/singapore-grants-digital-token-payment-licenses-to-fomo-pay/" target="_blank">four</a> licenses have been granted.</div></li><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Binance has already set up an entity for its global headquarters, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/19/binance-us-to-close-pre-ipo-funding-in-1-2-months-founder-cz-says/" target="_blank">CZ said</a> in November, after years of working on a decentralized model, while its U.S. arm is preparing for an IPO.</div></li><li><div class="typography__StyledTypography-owin6q-0 cpyiON">Crypto exchange Huobi has tapped Singapore for its <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/30/huobi-group-picks-singapore-as-regional-headquarters/" target="_blank">Asia headquarters</a>.</div></li></ul><div><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/13/binance-singapore-drops-crypto-license-plans-in-city-state/">Link</a></div></div></div>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-12062454023014523592021-12-13T10:58:00.004+08:002021-12-13T11:42:12.056+08:00Binance pulls out of Singapore, shuts down trading effective immediately<p>Olivia Poh, The Business Times, 13 December 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BINANCE Singapore unit has withdrawn its application for a
crypto permit by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to operate in the
city-state, and will shut down its operations in the financial hub by Feb 13,
it said in a statement on Monday (Dec 13).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Effective immediately, registrations, crypto and currency
deposits as well as trading on Binance.sg will be closed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Our decision to close Binance.sg was not taken
lightly. Our immediate priority is to help our users in Singapore transition
their holdings to other wallets or other third-party services," said
Richard Teng, chief executive of Binance Singapore. "I am grateful to the
MAS for its ongoing assistance to Binance Asia Services and we look forward to
future opportunities to work together."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Earlier this month, The Business Times reported that
Binance's local arm is considering withdrawing its application to operate in
Singapore, as its application to operate in the city-state remained in
regulatory limbo. The crypto exchange has been waiting on the side-lines for
its local affiliate, backed by Temasek-linked Vertex Ventures, to clinch a
permit for months even as smaller operators get the go ahead.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The decision comes as Binance, the world's largest
cryptocurrency exchange, is set to announce its decision for a global home
soon. This move will put Singapore out of the running, paving the way for a
Europe and Middle Eastern push.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All Binance.sg users will be informed via email of what
steps to take as the trading platform closes. Users on the local platform will
be required to close all open positions and withdraw their Singapore dollar and
cryptocurrency assets by Feb 13.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The move comes as Binance last week took an 18 per cent
stake in Singapore-regulated private securities exchange, Hg Exchange (HGX).
The acquisition was believed to help with Binance's regulatory hurdles, as HGX
was recently granted a recognised market operator licence from the MAS. This
acquisition is still subject to regulatory requirements.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Binance also said it will set up a blockchain innovation hub
in Singapore, exploring initiatives such as incubation programmes, blockchain
education and further investment opportunities.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/binance-pulls-out-of-singapore-shuts-down-trading-effective-immediately">Link</a></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-19480490202919268482021-12-10T14:33:00.003+08:002021-12-10T14:41:26.158+08:00Goldman Sachs Overview of Digital Assets and Blockchain<p>Key Agenda</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Engaging with Digital Assets and Blockchain Globally</li><li>How Digital Assets Transform the Financial Infrastructure Space</li><li>Finding the Opportunities in the Asian Digital Assets Space</li></ul><div><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V2IDSqP51K5_USmD8UzOJgVFBvb1yLFr/view?usp=sharing">Download</a></div><p></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-17410290045905356162021-12-10T14:15:00.001+08:002021-12-10T14:15:14.246+08:00TOP 6 BEST Crypto Exchanges in 2022!! Ultimate Review!!<p>By Coin Bureau</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r4qSKvhjgQQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="r4qSKvhjgQQ"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-45994295414860039302021-12-10T14:00:00.004+08:002021-12-10T14:04:46.010+08:00Huobi Global Retirement Schedule for Singapore-based User Accounts<p>Dear Valued Users,</p>
<p>Further to the announcement including Singapore as a restricted jurisdiction (<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.huobi.com/support/en-us/detail/94890776278324" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><u>https://www.huobi.com/support/en-us/detail/94890776278324</u></a>),
Huobi Global emphasizes that its paramount concern is to permit
Singapore-based users to retire their accounts in an orderly manner and
to ensure the safety of their digital assets.</p>
<p>Please see the current schedule for retirement of the following
services on Huobi Global for Singapore-based users: ETPs, Margin
Trading, Grid Trading, Futures Products, Huobi Earn, OTC Trading,
Deposit Services, Cloud Wallet, Spot Trading, and Airdrop Services. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>I. <u>ETPs, Margin Trading, and Grid Trading</u></strong></p>
<p>1. ETPs</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will no longer be able to subscribe for ETPs from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 25, 2022,</strong> and will no longer be able to redeem their ETP holdings from <strong>07:55 (UTC) on Mar 16, 2022</strong>. At <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 16, 2022</strong>,
the ETP holdings of Singapore-based users will be automatically
redeemed at their current price. After the automatic redemption of their
ETP holdings, Singapore-based users will receive the redemption amounts
in their exchange account within 14 days.</p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users redeem their ETP holdings before <strong>07:55(UTC) on Mar 16, 2022,</strong> to avoid any potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2. Margin Trading</p>
<p>The loan service on margin trading will be no longer available to Singapore-based users from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 25, 2022</strong>. At<strong> 08:00 (UTC) on Mar 17, 2022</strong>,
any outstanding margin trading loans will be automatically repaid with
digital assets from the margin accounts of Singapore-based users. 48
hours after <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 17, 2022</strong>,
any digital assets remaining in the margin accounts of Singapore-based
users will be automatically transferred to their exchange accounts.</p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users repay margin trading loans before <strong>08:00(UTC) on Mar 17, 2022,</strong> to avoid any potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3. Grid Trading</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will be no longer be able to set new Grid
Trading strategies and new Contract Grid Trading strategies, and any
ongoing Grid Trading strategies and Contract Grid Trading strategies
will be automatically terminated at <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 24, 2022</strong>. Any remaining digital assets will be transferred to their exchange accounts.</p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users terminate any ongoing Grid Trading strategies before 08:00 (UTC) on <strong>Feb 24</strong>, 2022, to avoid potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>II. <u>Coin-margined Swaps, USDT-margined Swaps, and Coin-margined Futures</u></strong></p>
<p>1. Coin-margined Swaps</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will no longer be able to open positions from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 25, 2022</strong>.</p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users close their existing positions before 08:00 (UTC) on <strong>Feb 25</strong>, 2022, to avoid any potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2. USDT-margined Swaps</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will no longer be able to open positions from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 25, 2022</strong>. </p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users close their open positions before 08:00 (UTC) on <strong>Feb 25</strong>, 2022 to avoid any potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3. Coin-margined Futures</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will not be able to open new coin-margined bi-quarterly positions from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Dec 17, 2021</strong>, they will be able to continue to open new coin-margined weekly, monthly and quarterly positions. From <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 25, 2022</strong>, Singapore-based users will no longer be able to open any new positions. </p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users close their existing positions before 08:00 (UTC) on <strong>Feb 25</strong>, 2022, to avoid any potential risks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>III. <u>Huobi Earn</u></strong></p>
<p>Singapore-based users will no longer be able to deposit their digital assets into Huobi Earn featured and fixed products from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 24, 2022</strong>, and into Huobi Earn flexible products from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Feb 24, 2022</strong>. </p>
<p>We highly recommend that Singapore-based users withdraw their
digital assets in Huobi Earn flexible products before 08:00 (UTC) on <strong>Feb 24</strong>, 2022, to avoid potential risks. Any remaining digital assets will be transferred to their exchange accounts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>IV. <u>OTC Trading</u></strong></p>
<p>OTC Trading (fiat trading) will cease the purchase and sale of
digital assets with the Singapore dollar (SGD) as well as all OTC
Trading services to Singapore-based users from <strong>14:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022</strong>. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>V. <u>Deposit Services, Cloud Wallet, and Spot Trading</u></strong></p>
<p>1. Deposit Services</p>
<p>Singapore-based users will not be permitted to deposit new digital assets to their Huobi Global account wallets from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 30, 2022</strong>. They will not be prevented from transferring digital assets between their sub-accounts and their exchange account.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2. Cloud Wallet</p>
<p>Huobi Global will no longer allow Singapore-based users to create new Cloud Wallet accounts from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022</strong>.
In addition, existing Singapore-based users with a Cloud Wallet account
will not be able to access any services on Cloud Wallet other than
withdrawal services.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3. Spot Trading</p>
<p>Huobi Global will cease Spot Trading services for Singapore-based users from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022</strong>. After the retirement of Spot Trading services, any pending orders for Singapore-based users will be canceled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>VII. <u>Airdrop Services</u></b></p>
<p>Huobi Global will be stopping Airdrop services for Singapore-based users from <strong>08:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022</strong>.
After 08:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022, Singapore-based users will no longer
be able to receive any airdrop tokens. Huobi Global will release
further updates from time to time in respect of specific airdrop
tokens. </p>
<p>We recommend Singapore-based users to withdraw their tokens
from Huobi Global before 08:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022 in order to receive
their airdrop tokens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Huobi Global Digital Asset Withdrawal Update</strong></p>
<p>We wish to reiterate that during the process of ending our
services to Singapore-based users, the security of our Singapore-based
users’ digital assets is our greatest concern. Huobi Global will work
towards ensuring that our Singapore-based users are able to withdraw
their digital assets from their accounts. </p>
<p>After <strong>16:00 (UTC) on Mar 31, 2022</strong>,
current Singapore-based users will have all services and functions to
their accounts disabled. These users will only be able to log into their
accounts on Huobi Global to view their personal information, view their
account balance, and withdraw their digital assets. </p>
<p>Huobi Global will give our Singapore-based users timely updates
in respect of any additional relevant information or changes to the
above schedule or in respect of their account access after 16:00 (UTC)
on Mar 31, 2022. Please contact our customer service (<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.huobi.mk/mailto:support@huobi.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><u>support@huobi.com</u></a>) if you have any questions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Huobi Global</p>
<p>December 9, 2021</p><p><a href="https://www.huobi.mk/support/en-us/detail/34893368237532">Link</a></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-2135148754228407332021-12-10T13:41:00.000+08:002021-12-10T13:41:00.272+08:00Fintech company MatchMove clarifies that 80% of US$100m funding will be in services; cash component comes with conditions<p>Claudia Chong, The Business Times, 10 December 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MATCHMOVE on Wednesday disclosed that US$80 million of its
US$100 million funding from US-based Nityo Infotech will be in the form of
in-kind transactions, while the rest will be in cash.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nityo's investment has also been approved by the Monetary
Authority of Singapore, according to MatchMove.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This comes after The Business Times last month reported a
delay in Nityo's investment. Sources had told BT that Nityo, an outsourcing
company, agreed to invest in the startup only if majority of the funding is in
the form of services.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory
Authority (ACRA) on Dec 2 showed that there are certain restrictions on how the
cash from Nityo can be used.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The cash has to be used entirely for MatchMove's quarterly
expenditure, which refers to the total operating and capital expenditure
projected to be incurred by the company in the quarter.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to the parties' share subscription agreement,
MatchMove is required to notify Nityo's investment arm KFC Ventures of the
amount of expenditure due, which will determine the quarterly transfers from
KFC.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MatchMove made the US$100 million funding announcement in
June but regulatory records indicated no money had come through after five
months.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Non-cash startup fundraising of this size is rare in
South-east Asia, industry experts told BT last month. It also raises questions
about how such deals are publicly portrayed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A source close to the matter said an in-kind agreement was
made as early as June 10, the date of the funding announcement. A copy of the
share subscription agreement filed with ACRA on Dec 2 was dated June 2021. When
queried by BT on June 10 about the terms of the funding, MatchMove CEO Shailesh
Naik said the US$100 million would be cash-only.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the press release dated Dec 8, MatchMove said the deal
has been further refined since the announcement of the term sheet with Nityo in
June.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Naik also said: "After a challenging 2020, we will
close 2021 showing 400 per cent revenue growth and a strong increase in
software as a service (SaaS)-based recurring revenues."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That would mark a stark contrast to its financial standing
even before the pandemic. In most recently filed financial statements,
MatchMove's revenue in 2019 was mostly flat at US$7.7 million and driven by
transaction-based income. The shift to the SaaS model began last year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Wednesday's statement, MatchMove said the in-kind
component will consist of technology services, specialist personnel, "cost
synergies" and enhanced sales and distribution.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MatchMove's early investor Credit Saison last month said it
was not comfortable endorsing the Nityo transaction, but declined to elaborate.
The Japan-based company exited its entire stake to Naik about a month after the
deal was announced.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Industry sources had told BT that Nityo's investment arm KFC
Ventures approached their startups, offering to make an investment that
included a non-cash component such as services or a promise to help increase
revenue. The parties walked away from the offer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Regulatory filings dated Dec 2 showed KFC Ventures has made
a US$1.5 million equity investment in MatchMove.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MatchMove issued 66.9 million Series C convertible
preference shares to KFC Ventures (not fully paid up), in line with their share
subscription agreement.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The total subscription consideration set out in the
agreement was US$99.8 million. It includes a cash consideration of at most 20
per cent of the total consideration, which will be paid quarterly.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The payments will continue until one of four conditions are
fulfilled, including the company recording free cash flow each month for three
months straight or a fundraise of at least US$50 million.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MatchMove added on Wednesday that Nityo's founder and
chairman Naveen Kumar and Nityo's chief technology officer Vivek Chadha will
join its board following completion of the investment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finian Tan, chairman of MatchMove's biggest backer Vickers
Venture Partners, resigned from the board on Dec 3, regulatory filings show.<o:p></o:p></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-55134682953250496322021-12-08T15:14:00.003+08:002021-12-08T15:14:15.036+08:00Some lessons learnt from day trading in cryptocurrencies<p>Yong Jun Yuan, The Business Times, 6 December 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ivan Xu, 25-year-old computing and information systems
major, strongly believes in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and what it hopes to
achieve<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">CRYPTOCURRENCIES have been a polarising topic among
investors ever since they gained mainstream attention.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On one hand, some believe that cryptocurrencies are purely
speculative and cannot be used reliably as a store of value or a unit of
account. Others, however, maintain that these pieces of virtual code hold
immense potential as we begin to live more of our lives online.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Personally, I have always viewed the concept of
cryptocurrencies as a libertarian's fevered dream come to life, where value is
based on the hope that money may one day be free from the shackles of
centralised authorities.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, I was particularly intrigued when I saw a former primary
school classmate of mine on Instagram sharing trading tips on cryptocurrencies
this year. If Crypto.com advertises that "Fortune favours the brave",
then he must be the bravest of them all.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Easy come, easy go</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ivan Xu, a 25-year-old computing and information systems
major, strongly believes in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and what it hopes to
achieve.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The recent graduate has eschewed the typical route of
finding a job immediately and instead, spent the last 10 months day trading in
cryptocurrency, which he said is currently in its bull market phase.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While he was initially more of an observer of the market,
having read up on crypto news since he was in secondary school, he decided to
finally take the plunge after companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy began
buying Bitcoin earlier this year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Roughly every four years, Bitcoin miners receive half the
amount of Bitcoin as reward after every 210,000 blocks are mined. As
cryptocurrency prices have generally rallied before and after the
"halving", which last happened in May 2020, Xu believes that the
market will peak at the start of 2022 before easing off again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Right now, I want to take this opportunity to fully focus
on crypto... to fully utilise this period and maximise my gains,” he says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But he also cautioned that day trading cryptocurrency is not
for the faint of heart. When cryptocurrency prices collapsed around the world
in May due to negative news from Elon Musk and China, he remembers losing half
of the capital he initially started with. Since then, he has managed to triple
his initial capital.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"I don't advise that people go full time into trading
in crypto because the volatility is really up there as compared to stocks. But,
that doesn't change the fact that money is easily made in crypto," Xu
says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Putting a value on the virtual</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still, I was curious about how he valued these
cryptocurrencies and how he could begin to put a price on objects that do not
seem to have real world use cases.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Xu believes that real world use cases are already emerging
and as interest grows, so too will the value of cryptocurrencies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pointing to El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin as legal
tender and Meta's (formerly known as Facebook) plans for the metaverse, he
believes that cryptocurrencies will play a very important role in the future,
and their value will only rise as more people need these currencies to transact
on digital platforms.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Definitely, more people are looking into the
cryptocurrency space and as more people come in, the supply is only going down
and that in itself will push the price of cryptocurrencies up even more,"
he says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In deciding which cryptocurrencies to track, he focuses on
those that play a meaningful role in building up the ecosystem.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An example of this is SAND, the in-game token of 3D video
game The Sandbox that allows players to buy land and assets within the game.
Launched in "alpha" on Nov 29, the game has partnerships with
companies like Adidas and Atari. Players can even visit Snoop Dogg's mansion in
the game and attend virtual concerts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"These kinds of coins which are used in the metaverse
are taking off now because people actually see a huge potential in the
metaverse in the near future," Xu says, adding that Meta's focus on the
metaverse sparked a lot of interest as well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meta had announced in October that it would help build the
metaverse. Founder Mark Zuckerberg described it as "an embodied internet
where you're in the experience, not just looking at it".<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another cryptocurrency Xu tracks is Harmony's One token.
Harmony is a blockchain that facilitates the transfer of data between other
blockchains like Ethereum and Binance, within which the One token is used to
pay to carry out these functions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Beware the siren call of the shills</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Currently, Xu tracks 20 to 30 such cryptocurrencies daily.
Although he has joined the interest groups of these cryptocurrencies on
Telegram, many of the groups have toxic "shills" who encourage people
to buy in even at a cryptocurrency's peak, something that he feels strongly
against. Xu believes investors should aim to buy dips as much as possible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Above all, he says that he has also learnt to better control
his emotions when trading.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Initially, Xu found himself swayed by his optimism towards
certain cryptocurrencies, which would subconsciously skew his own technical
analysis to be overly optimistic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, he soon found other users on Telegram groups that
put out accurate technical analysis. He started befriending them and checking
his analysis with them to see if he was on the right track. They also made book
recommendations, such as Trading For A Living by Dr Alexander Elder, which he
has read 4 times this year to remind himself to leave his emotions aside when
trading.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"If your analysis originally deemed that (the
cryptocurrency) will go up but it breaks through your support level, a lot of
people are going to remain super bullish about it. But for me, I feel that
people should just discard their feelings when they do technical
analysis," Xu says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet, he does not see crypto trading as a full-time career
either as he believes in finding salaried work. When cryptocurrencies fall back
into bear market territory next year, he says he will sell his crypto holdings
and return to the workforce, content that he has tried his best to grow his
money with the time and opportunity he has now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps I am more of a conservative investor who likes to
see the physical value in my investments but I may only ever be comfortable
placing my money in Tether, or USDT, a stablecoin that tracks the US dollar.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After Xu does technical analysis on all his cryptocurrencies
each morning, he will sell off those that have hit their limits or breached
their support levels. Before he decides on where to redeploy his funds, they go
right back to USDT too.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/some-lessons-learnt-from-day-trading-in-cryptocurrencies">Link</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-64308879265085129832021-12-08T14:41:00.007+08:002021-12-08T15:26:58.077+08:00Crypto.com becomes first fintech company to attain Data Protection Trust Mark<p>Tan Nai Lun, The Business Times, 8 December 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">CRYPTOCURRENCY trading platform Crypto.com has been awarded
the Data Protection Trust Mark (DPTM), making it the first financial technology
company to attain the enterprise-wide certification.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Awarded by Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority
(IMDA), the DPTM was introduced to recognise companies that have put in place
data protection regimes to comply with obligations under the Personal Data
Protection Act.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crypto.com's certification hence "further strengthens
its position as an industry leader in data protection and security", the
company said in a statement on Monday (Dec 6).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jason Lau, Crypto.com's chief information security officer,
noted that the DPTM is Singapore's "most prestigious official
certification" for information security and data privacy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crypto.com's DPTM is held by Foris Asia, the company's
trading entity in Singapore.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crypto.com provides customers prepaid debit card services
that allows cardholders to buy, sell and spend cryptocurrency. It also runs an
app for cryptocurrency trading.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/cryptocom-becomes-first-fintech-company-to-attain-data-protection-trust-mark">Link</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-43163095708231732152021-12-08T14:35:00.001+08:002021-12-08T14:35:14.920+08:00Binance acquires 18% stake in Singapore-regulated Hg Exchange<p>Benjamin Cher, The Business Times, 8 December 2021</p><p>BINANCE will acquire 18 per cent of Singapore-regulated private securities exchange, Hg Exchange (HGX).</p><p>The embattled crypto exchange will acquire the post-money stake, which includes its own investment, via its Singapore arm, Binance Asia Services. This move comes after Binance has mulled leaving the island republic over its regulatory licence limbo.</p><p>The acquisition could help with Binance's regulatory hurdles, as HGX was recently granted a recognised market operator licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Other than private companies, HGX is working to list alternative assets such as wine, art and real estate.</p><p>"Crypto and traditional financial offerings continue to converge. Through this investment, we seek to work with HGX in enhancing offerings of products and services supported by blockchain technology," said Richard Teng, chief executive, Binance Singapore. Teng was the chairman at HGX before he took over as chief at Binance Singapore in August 2021.</p><p>HGX is backed by financial institutions PhillipCapital, Prime Partners and Fundnel.</p><p>This acquisition is still subject to regulatory requirements.</p><p>"In Singapore, we continue to work closely with key government agencies to support the growth of the blockchain ecosystem and development of requisite local talent needed," said Teng. (amendment note)</p><p>Amendment note: An earlier version of this article specified an agency as a key government agency Binance Singapore has worked closely with. Binance has clarified it did not mean to specify any specific government agency.</p><p><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/binance-acquires-18-stake-in-singapore-regulated-hg-exchange">Link</a></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-35678563541140146982021-12-07T11:37:00.007+08:002021-12-08T14:57:03.325+08:00Crypto players waiting on Singapore’s playbook<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Kelly Ng, </span><span>The Business Times, </span><span>07 December 2021</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Singapore regulator is faced with a large backlog of crypto-related licence applications.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) website, close to 70 applicants seeking to be licensed as digital payment token (DPT) service providers remain on the waiting list. These entities are operating under a regime that allows them to be exempted from holding a licence while their applications are under review.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">More keenly associated with risks of money laundering than fiscal dollars, the cryptocurrency industry remains difficult to regulate. As Singapore continues to want to build itself up as a place for crypto infrastructure, crypto players are waiting on Singapore’s playbook over its ambitions on this front. Authorities are thus treading a fine line between maintaining regulations and stifling innovation, some observers say.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The MAS has to date granted just 4 licences to DPT service providers. That’s since January 2020, when the Payment Services Act came into force to govern payment services - these include those provided by crypto exchanges, which are meant to be licensed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The main challenge will be to maintain this conducive environment and to balance regulatory restrictions and incentives in a level manner,” said Hagen Rooke, fintech counsel at ReedSmith told The Business Times.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“At present, the Singapore regulatory framework for crypto firms is viewed as well-calibrated. However, various regulatory changes are in the pipeline to ensure Singapore remains aligned with international standards for anti-money laundering. The MAS will need to ensure it addresses relevant risks without overregulating or unnecessarily subduing the innovation factor,” Rooke added.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clarence Guo, a director at Jacque Law, said the movements in Singapore’s crypto space are reflective of the overall international regulatory landscape, where each regulator closely references guidance from the Financial Action Task Force.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The intergovernmental body announced updates to its guidance for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) at the end of August which, among other things, recommends international standards to address money laundering and terrorist financing risks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guo said these guidelines “may not be the clearest or most business-friendly”, adding: “Many other island jurisdictions which have introduced their own virtual asset rules have encountered a huge exodus of companies and projects, and slowdown of crypto-related businesses.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the case of Singapore, both Huobi and Binance have stopped users here from trading cryptos on their global platforms. On Nov 10, another crypto exchange, Delta Exchange, sent an email informing Singapore users that they will no longer be able to trade spot pairs on its platform “due to compliance reasons”. Trading of derivative products can continue, it added.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But Huobi and Binance have set up separate Singapore units - Huobi Singapore and Binance Singapore, respectively - that are awaiting licences to operate legitimately here. That would require them to show that the local operations would ring fence assets from the global entities, to protect local users.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sources close to Binance have recently told BT that the crypto bourse might withdraw its Singapore application and turn elsewhere in its hunt for a global base. Binance Global’s chief executive Zhao Changpeng has also been quoted in reports citing France, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates as regions coming up with “very friendly crypto regulations”.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet, the tough stance of Singapore’s regulators continues to make the city-state a draw to other crypto players.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The reputational and credibility benefit of securing a crypto licence in Singapore, will help them secure licences elsewhere as Singapore is well known to have higher and more stringent regulatory standards,” said Chia Hock Lai, co-chairman of Blockchain Association Singapore and chair of Asean Blockchain Consortium.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Huobi Singapore’s chief executive Edward Chen told BT it will continue to base the company in Singapore, even if it were to expand operations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Singapore is one of the most important players for fintech in the Asia region. It already has very good influence and power in the traditional finance space.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It is also going to be a key player for cryptocurrency-related businesses,” Chen said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regulators here have been active in engaging with licence applicants, he noted, noting that there have been discussions on widening the offerings of Singapore-based exchanges. Huobi Singapore plans to soft-launch its exchange at the end of this month. A small pool of users will be invited to test it, Chen said. Huobi Global has reportedly picked Singapore as its Asia base.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite Singapore’s small retail market, the city-state presents other advantages such as professional talents, political stability and strong infrastructure. Jacque Law’s Guo also highlighted the ease of fundraising here due to the access to reputable investors and other family offices.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“From our experience dealing with projects raising funds, or infrastructure or business-to-business providers, the Singapore market is still attractive for crypto market participants,” he said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, for these exchanges to truly operate a hub-and-spoke model out of Singapore, their Singapore units must be allowed - and their offerings must be attractive enough - to serve consumers outside the city-state.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“For Singapore to be a hub, other countries will need to permit their residents to be onboarded by Singapore financial institutions. Otherwise, the industry may only have domestic markets and product offerings,” said Chris Holland, a partner at Holland & Marie specialising in advising financial services.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Holland added: “Without comfort that regulators will not penalise financial institutions for accepting international customers on a reverse enquiry basis, financial services and cryptocurrency offerings may become purely domestic businesses, which would be a remarkable difference from how the cryptocurrency industry operates today.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/crypto-players-waiting-on-singapores-playbook">Link</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-11988503469286213672020-08-20T19:22:00.011+08:002020-08-20T19:22:50.378+08:00Five former remisiers in Singapore charged for false trading<p>Five former remisiers
from various brokerages were charged in the State Courts on Thursday morning
for false trading.</p><p>The charges involved
as many as 55 securities listed on the mainboard and Catalist of the Singapore
Exchange. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The investigation was
jointly conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Commercial
Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The five charged are
Alan Lee, Chew Wei Zhan, Lee Wei Kai, Lim Ming Yi and Lim Ming Chit, in
relation to violations of Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">All face charges for
conspiring to create a false appearance in the trading of shares to support or
raise the share price by executing a series of transactions relating to the
stocks. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">There were 80 charges
brought against Alan Lee, a former remisier with OCBC Securities, for false
trading in 55 securities on 80 occasions. Chew, who was from DBS Vickers
Securities, faces 79 charges for false trading in 53 securities on 79
occasions.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Lee Wei Kai, who was
previously at Phillip Securities, faces 61 charges for false trading in 44
securities on 61 occasions.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Lim Ming Yi, formerly
with Maybank Kim Eng Securities, faces 55 charges for false trading in 41
securities on 55 occasions, and Lim Ming Chit, an ex-remisier with Phillip
Securities, faces 22 charges for false trading in 19 securities on 22
occasions.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Alan Lee was offered
bail for S$250,000 while the remaining four were offered S$40,000 bail.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The offences allegedly
took place between March 2015 and April 2016. If found guilty, they face a
maximum fine of S$250,000 and jail of up to seven years for each charge of
false trading.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The court has
adjourned their cases to Sept 17 for further mention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Claudia Tan<o:p></o:p></span></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-51404407881676609282020-07-10T20:45:00.000+08:002020-07-10T20:45:29.438+08:00No ‘comeback’ for John Soh despite ‘over-abusing’ the word after crash<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">SINGAPORE
(July 9): John Soh, who is at the centre of a trial for allegedly manipulating
three penny stocks in 2013 that subsequently led to their crash, made a couple
of attempts to stage a “comeback” from losses incurred in the wake of their
spectacular collapse.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">According to
former broker Gabriel Gan Tze Wee, who helped to carry out some of Soh’s trade
orders, the latter tried to convince people around him that he had a “comeback
story” and that they could all make a “solid” comeback.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Gan, who is
taking the stand as the latest prosecution witness, told the court that the
term “comeback” was “over-abused” by Soh three to four years after the crash.
The court also heard that a couple of “comeback” attempts were also made with
two other listed companies, Sino Construction (since then renamed MMP
Resources) and ISR Capital (now called Reenova Investment Holding) as well as a
privately-held company called Greatronics.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">However,
before the schemes could gain traction and make enough money, Soh was arrested
in November 2016 and has been held in remand ever since. He is now facing trial
together with his lover and fellow accused Quah Su-Ling. “Yeah. Nobody came
back. Not even him. None of us,” Gan told the court on July 1.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Gan was one
of the “generals” Soh depended on to help coordinate and execute the trades of
the three penny stocks — Blumont Group, Asiason Capital (now renamed Attilan
Group) and LionGold Corp, also collectively known as BAL — between 2010 and
2013. Others include Ken Tai Chee Ming and Henry Tjoa, as well as Soh’s
long-time associate Dick Gwee.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">In his
earlier statements and testimonies, Gan recalled how he helped Soh seek new
ways to increase the combined trading limit of the accounts under their
control. When selling pressure piled on just before the crash, Gan took on
bigger risks, using trading accounts belonging to his family to help Soh
support BAL’s stock prices. The risks taken were so large that when the crash
happened, Gan, like many others involved, suffered losses. A few were even made
bankrupt, including Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">According to
Gan, Soh’s relationships with his network of brokers and individuals who traded
on his behalf, was not always amicable, especially after the crash. One of them
was Leroy Lau, Gan’s colleague at DMG Securities (since then part of RHB
Securities), who lost close to $30 million. “I was informed, but I cannot
confirm, that Mr Soh didn’t make good the losses to Leroy. That’s why Leroy was
very angry with him, and he was very, very rude to Mr Soh, so much so that
Leroy would call him for no apparent reason and then scold him vulgarities and
things like that,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">On the other
hand, Soh apparently took the trouble to reassure Gan. While Soh could not make
good for all the losses, Gan told the court that Soh not only kept in contact
but tried to make good by paying for Gan’s shares in another company that Soh
wanted to use to make a comeback.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">According to
the transcript of one of the many recordings of conversations between Soh and
Gan, Soh called Gan a “vital” associate. “Firstly, you have proven your
toughness — your mental toughness. Two, you have your reach and your ability to
spin,” Soh was recorded as saying to Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Gan told the
court these were “very comforting words”. “Yeah, a vital cog in the next new scheme.
Mental toughness, of course. I’ve helped him to evade lots of losses, yeah,
fended off lots of people asking for money, and followed by my reach — oh,
because I was a public figure,” said Gan, referring to his years of being a
prolific stock commentator including very frequent appearances on radio. “He
probably thought that I’m very good at spinning, maybe writing stories,
articles,” he added.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><font face="inherit"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">More than
just taking orders?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">But what Soh
did not know was that Gan had secretly made around 100 audio recordings of many
conversations between the two as well as that involving other individuals. Gan
told the court that although he did not fully cooperate with the investigators
initially, he had already started recording the conversations and also the
numbers of the unregistered phone lines used by the group.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">During cross
examination on July 2, Soh’s lawyer N Sreenivasan of K&L Gates Straits Law
asked Gan the reason behind this. Gan explained he was then beholden to Soh,
and was hoping that Soh would make good the trading losses incurred while using
accounts belonging to Gan, his family and his friends. “I was beholden to John
because of the financial issues. I was willing to be very loyal to him, but since
he was already remanded, I saw no ways, no means of recovering the money, so
when the authorities came knocking on my door, I just had to surrender,” said
Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Sreenivasan
tried to make Gan agree that during the alleged manipulation of shares, Gan was
playing a more active role than just taking trading orders from Soh and Quah.
Gan, the court was told, helped get prepaid SIM cards for various other
individuals involved.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Gan denied
that he was in charge of logistics and operational security. “I wanted everybody
to stay safe,” said Gan. “It’s not Covid, so what were they staying safe from?”
asked Sreenivasan. “It’s my own initiative. Safe from the authorities. Like I
said yesterday [July 1], I was trying to protect John, all the way until he was
remanded,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><font face="inherit"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The making
of a perfect storm?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">In Gan’s
conditioned statement, BAL shares came under “selling pressure” from Goldman
Sachs a few days before the crash and he was told by Gwee to help “defend” its
share price. Sreenivasan said that at the committal hearing back in 2018,
representatives of the US financial firm flatly denied short selling the
shares. Goldman had loaned money to Quah using BAL shares held by her and other
related parties as collaterals.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Gan
explained that he knew it was Goldman selling because traders could see the
house code on their systems and that there were “a lot” of sellers with the
Goldman house code unloading large chunks of BAL shares of between 500,000 and
one million units each. Gan also heard from Tai that Interactive Brokers was
making margin calls too.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">In his cross
examination, Sreenivasan also made Gan agree that the crash of the shares in
early October 2013 was caused by other parties.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">When BAL
prices were surging, the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS)
had called on Blumont to give an acceptable explanation for the unusual price
hike in the shares, failing which an investigation could be launched. But when
Blumont asked for a trading halt, the request was denied by Singapore Exchange,
which Gan agreed was an unusual response. “So we’re looking at a perfect storm:
Selling pressure from Goldman, SIAS’s announcement, denial of trading halt.
Agreed?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">Sreenivasan
added that other known associates such as Lim Kuan Yew and Nelson Fernandez
were already up to their trading limits holding BAL shares. “So, it makes
absolutely no sense for a group of people, allegedly acting in concert, to do things
to bring the price down. Right?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes, I would agree,” said
Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">The trial
continues.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">The Edge
Singapore<o:p></o:p></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">09 July 2020</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><p></p>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-39080371855116050832020-07-10T20:38:00.001+08:002020-07-10T20:39:35.763+08:00Putting every sin at Soh’s doorstep?<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">SINGAPORE
(July 9): Sreenivasan attempted to get Gan to agree that his client did not
have that much control over the manipulation of BAL shares as painted out to
be.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">According to
earlier testimonies given by prosecution witnesses, including Gan, Soh in
September 2013 before the crash, had urged attendees at a presentation held at
LionGold’s office to buy the three stocks. Those present at the event included
Quah, Gwee, Tai and Wong Xue Yu.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“If John was
controlling the accounts under these people, do you agree there was no reason
for him to promote the company to them? He just has to give them instructions
to go and buy, right?” asked Sreenivasan. Gan disagreed, saying Soh meant to
encourage them to buy.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“They could
take up the encouragement or they could not take up the encouragement?” asked
Sreenivasan. “Of course, definitely,” replied Gan. “These people who were there
being encouraged to buy were people who could make decisions on their own,
right?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“John’s role
was to persuade people to do things?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes, I agree,” said
Gan. “Just like you went to recruit people without telling him, just like you
deciding how much to trade without getting instructions, just like you, who
could decide to buy and sell at whatever price you felt was correct, everybody
else there could do that as well. Right?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said
Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">Sreenivasan,
citing discrepancies between Gan’s testimonies and what he had said in court,
accused Gan of making things up, and that Gan, together with other brokers who
had turned prosecution witnesses, were trying to pin all the blame on Soh. Gan
explained he had suffered a stroke in 2018, which affected his memory.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“You see, Mr
Gan, it is the defence case that you, Ken Tai, Dick Gwee — maybe, because he
hasn’t given evidence yet — Henry Tjoa were all playing up these BAL shares and
running operations, but when things went wrong, you all decided to put every
sin at the doorstep of John Soh to cover yourselves,” said Sreenivasan. “That
is why people like you were gathering evidence and recording conversations.
That is why you can’t get your facts straight, because as Mark Twain has said,
you don’t need to remember the truth. You are making up your stories,” added
Sreenivasan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">Deputy
public prosecutor Jiang Ke-Yue immediately objected to this line of
questioning, saying it was not fair as Gan had tried to refer to price charts
of the stocks involved to verify certain dates and prices, given how the
incident took place back seven years ago. “He has asked twice, actually, and I
think this is objectively verifiable,” said Jiang. “The reason you can’t get
your facts straight is because your story is made up. Agree or disagree?” asked
Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“The reason
you have to make up this story is, against the background of John Soh promoting
these shares, there was a whole bunch of you playing your own games,
manipulating the market. Agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,”
said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“Manipulating
the market by taking an extra one and a half cents, like Ken Tai has said.
Agreed?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“Manipulating
the market by doing deals for Dick Gwee to make money, agree or disagree?”
asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“Manipulating
the market by getting family members and friends on board, hoping to catch a
rising tide. Agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Strongly disagree,” said
Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font face="inherit">“That’s why
you can’t get your facts straight,” said Sreenivasan. “I already told you, I
suffered a stroke,” said Gan.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font face="inherit">The Edge
Singapore</font></span></p><font face="inherit">09 July 2020</font>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-18902900869212694022020-07-02T10:22:00.002+08:002020-07-02T10:23:34.520+08:00Two ex-UOBKH staff charged with lying to MAS over due diligence reports on a Catalist aspirant<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">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.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">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.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">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).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>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 for the IPO
listing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>The Catalist aspirant subsequently went
ahead with its IPO, and is still listed on the Singapore Exchange, The Business
Times understands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>The company was not named in the pair's
charge sheets. Neither was its name given in the MAS media statement. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">Lan was holding the position of senior vice
president (VP) of UOBKH, while Wee was a VP, before both resigned, according to
Google search results. They were in the IPO team when they allegedly committed
the offences, said MAS in the statement.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">According to the charge sheets, Lan
allegedly lied to an MAS investigator on Oct 26, 2018, when he said he did not
get one Ng Wei Chuen Benjamin to amend a report titled "Project Timber -
Final Report" by Caerus Consulting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>Also, he was accused of not telling the
truth when he said that the paragraph on the awarding of timber concessions was
already present in an earlier version of the Caerus Consulting report in March
2018.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>Lan has also been charged with lying about
Wee having received the Caerus Consulting report in March or April that year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>Wee, also known as Gregory, was said to
have lied to MAS when he said the report was revised by Benjamin without his
knowledge, that he did not have a soft copy of the report as well as he had
received the report in the second quarter of 2018. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">MAS said in the statement 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 IPOs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>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 for the IPO
listing. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">UOBKH senior director Ding Hock Chai
confirmed to BT that Lan and Wee had resigned last year. (see amendment note)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span>The court has adjourned their cases to July
22 for further mention. The pair, who were charged under the Securities and
Futures Act, could each be fined up to S$50,000, jailed up to two years, or
both, for each offence, if convicted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="">Tay Peck Gek<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-39912732358705876972020-06-30T11:08:00.001+08:002020-06-30T11:08:32.550+08:00Biolidics shares sink 22% after calling off US sales of Covid-19 test kits<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">BIOLIDICS shares sank 22 per cent on Monday
after the Catalist-listed firm announced on Sunday that it had mutually agreed
with Aytu BioScience to terminate a distribution agreement for its Covid-19
antibody test kits in the US, amid increased competition for such kits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Shares of Biolidics, which ended Friday at
41 Singapore cents, plunged to 29.5 cents as at 8.58am on Monday. The stock
recovered to 35 cents as at 9.26am, before closing at 32 cents, down nine
cents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Earlier in April, Biolidics signed a
one-year agreement with Aytu for the distribution of its test kits in the US
after completing its US FDA listing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">With the distribution deal scrapped,
Biolidics will need to refund Aytu in full for all deposits paid with respect
to undelivered orders of its test kits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The Catalist-listed company also intends to
apply to voluntarily withdraw its application to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) pursuant to the
FDA's serology test policy. As a consequence, its current test kits will no
longer be available in the US market, it said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">However, Biolidics intends to continue to
distribute, market and/or sell its current test kits in markets outside the US.
It has signed distribution agreements for the sale of its kits in Thailand, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Hong Kong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In its Sunday bourse filing, Biolidics also
revealed it had signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Aytu to
jointly develop a new test kit with broader use outside of laboratory or
clinical settings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The company explained that it was
withdrawing its test kits from the US as it had observed "significant
changes" over the last few weeks for serology test kits in the market due
to the rapidly evolving pandemic situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Competition had increased since Biolidics
and Aytu inked their distribution agreement, with over 190 different serology
test kits in the US offered by various manufacturers as at June 26, it said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Some of the kits that had obtained US FDA
EUA had established leading US market positions, Biolidics added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In April, Biolidics had assessed that the
distribution agreement with Aytu would likely have contributed positively to
its revenue for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2020. However,
revenue from US sales of the test kits under the agreement to date was not
material, it said on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The company's existing test kits are
limited to testing in laboratories, or by healthcare workers at the
point-of-care.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It now plans to refocus efforts and
resources into the proposed project with Aytu to develop a new serology test
kit with broader use and applications outside the laboratory or clinical
settings - for example, by individuals at home - in the US, which Biolidics
believes may present a better commercial opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">"The company understands that there is
currently no EUA authorised serology tests which could be used outside of the
laboratory or clinical settings in the US market," Biolidics said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Both parties are negotiating the terms of a
binding definitive agreement for the proposed project for the new test kit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The termination of the distribution deal
and the signing of the LOI are not expected to have a material impact on the
group's earnings per share and net tangible assets per share for the current
financial year, Biolidics said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The company noted that results from all
serology test kits are not to be used for confirmatory testing or as the sole
basis for diagnosis. They will have to be interpreted together with clinical
presentation and are to be confirmed with supplementary testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Rachel Chia<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-74689263832665431432020-06-30T11:03:00.001+08:002020-06-30T11:04:14.873+08:00AEM unaffected by Apple's move to drop Intel: DBS<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">APPLE'S move to drop semiconductor giant
Intel Corporation's chips for future Macs is unlikely to put a dent on AEM
Holdings' business.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The firm may in fact see some upside given
that Intel "will be able to dedicate more focus on its data-centric
business" once it discontinues supplying chips to Apple, DBS analyst Ling
Lee Keng told The Business Times.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>"Its data-centric business has been
growing, and is expected to grow at a faster rate than its PC-centric business,
which will positively impact AEM as it is involved in the testing of its logic
chips," she said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Although not disclosed by AEM, most reports
suggest that the firm's key customer is Intel, which contributes over 90 per
cent of its revenue.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Intel had recorded a revenue of US$72
billion for FY2019, up 1.7 per cent from a year ago led by growth in its data
centre business.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Ms Ling also pointed out that Mac chips
sold to Apple accounts for only around 4.7 per cent of its revenue.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Likewise, Maybank Kim Eng's analyst Lai
Gene Lih noted in a report that Intel had expected strong data centre business
for the first half of 2020, and "headwinds from softer PC demands" in
the second half of the year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Meanwhile, the long-drawn pandemic will
continue to fuel the demand for data centres and servers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>As companies see increased productivity
amid work from home measures, they will look to reassess telecommuting
arrangements, said a DBS report.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>"This will drive the longer-term
demand for data centres and server processors, the segment which Intel is
focusing on," it said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>DBS had on Monday upgraded AEM to
"buy" from "hold" with a revised target price of S$3.53
from S$2.87.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span>Shares of AEM closed on Monday at S$2.93,
down S$0.07 or 2.3 per cent.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Claudia Tan<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-91329160559612085712020-06-30T10:57:00.000+08:002020-06-30T10:57:27.612+08:00Phillip Securities to buy RHB's Singapore stockbroking business<p class="MsoNormal">IN CONTINUED
consolidation within the stockbroking industry, Phillip Securities is buying
RHB Investment Bank Berhad's (RHBIB) Singapore stockbroking business in RHB
Securities Singapore (RHBSS) for an undisclosed sum.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The consideration will
be calculated "based on the net tangible assets of RHB Securities
Singapore", RHB Bank said in a filing to the Bursa Malaysia stock
exchange.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">RHBIB is a
wholly-owned unit of RHB Banking Group in Malaysia, while RHBSS is wholly owned
by RHBIB. Both sides have signed a conditional share purchase agreement.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In its rationale, RHB
Bank said: "The increasingly competitive broking environment has made it
no longer viable for RHB Securities Singapore to continue its stockbroking
business."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Financial statements
obtained by The Business Times showed that RHBSS was bleeding losses after tax
of S$8.05 million for its FY19 ended Dec 31, 2019, albeit an improvement from
losses of S$16.06 million in FY18 and S$13.95 million in FY17. This was despite
revenue remaining within S$23 million to S$25 million for each of the three
years.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The financial
statements also listed RHBSS's total assets and total liabilities at S$126.6
million and S$55.7 million, respectively, as at end-2019.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Prior to the completion
of this disposal, RHBSS will also undertake a corporate exercise to transfer
some businesses units and assets to the Singapore branch of RHB Bank, including
the client coverage team, research and corporate advisory services, equity
capital markets and institutional equities sales, as well as certain share
margin accounts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Khairussaleh Ramli,
group managing director of RHB Banking Group, said this will integrate the
bank's capital markets services with its corporate banking and global markets
services under RHB Bank Singapore. This would enable the RHB Banking Group to
offer a more holistic customer experience to its corporate and institutional
clients in Singapore and the region through its wholesale banking solutions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the acquisition
of RHBSS's stockbroking business, all of its clients, house dealers, remisiers
and trading representatives will move over to Phillip Securities. A team has
been assembled from both sides to ensure a smooth integration of RHBSS
customers affected by the proposed acquisition, in particular customers who are
holding trading or margin financing accounts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The acquisition will
improve Phillip Securities' competitive position and distribution scale in
Singapore and Asia, the firm said. Even before the acquisition, Phillip Securities
was already the largest non-bank-backed retail broker in Singapore. Phillip
Securities has a team of more than 550 trading representatives. RHBSS, when
contacted, declined to disclose the number of dealers, remisiers and trading
representatives that it has.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Phillip Securities
said the move will allow new customers to enjoy greater access to trade a broad
range of more than 40,000 global investment products on its online trading
platform Poems, as well as financial planning services such as wealth advisory
to help them reach their financial goals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It added that with a
larger customer scale, it will be able to fast-track its digital strategy and
launch innovative technology solutions on Poems to customise products for its
customers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The proposed
transaction is subject to the approvals of relevant regulatory authorities in
Singapore, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Late last year, DBS
Vickers had also agreed to transfer its offline retail securities brokerage
business to UOB Kay Hian. With this, more than 100 remisiers will move to UOB
Kay Hian, making it the largest securities brokerage in Singapore, with over
800 dealers and remisiers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore's
traditional retail broking business, which uses self-employed remisiers, is
declining as more retail customers shift to self-directed online trading.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Brokerages here have a
history of growing through mergers and acquisitions to gain scale and lower
overheads.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Lee Meixian<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br />Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-22262459141563593822020-06-27T20:33:00.002+08:002020-06-27T20:34:23.814+08:00Magnus Energy says directors who quit disagreed with CEO on payments, plant shutdown<p class="MsoNormal">MAGNUS Energy Group disclosed that two of its directors stepped down just half a year after winning a boardroom tussle because they disagreed with the chief executive officer (CEO) on certain payments, office rental, staff costs, and the shutdown of a plant.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Anthony Kuek resigned as non-executive chairman and independent non-executive director on June 24. This was due to “irreconcilable differences” with executive director and CEO Charles Madhavan over, among other things, the entry of certain interested person transactions (IPTs) during the quarter ended March 31, as well as sustainability concerns relating to the company’s finances, Magnus said on Wednesday.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Likewise, Ong Chin Yew quit on June 14 as a non-independent non-executive director, due to “differences of opinion” with Mr Madhavan.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In a bourse filing late on Thursday, the Catalist-listed firm said that Mr Kuek disagreed over three payments: a service agreement between Blue Water Engineering Pte Ltd (BWEPL) and Magnus; a one-time S$30,000 lump sum payment of professional fees to former independent non-executive director Christopher O’Connor; and a monthly payment of fees, accommodation and office/administrative expenses to the director of Magnus’s Malaysian subsidiary MEG Management.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Of the three, only the service agreement and the professional fees paid to Mr O’Connor are deemed IPTs under listing rules, Magnus said.</p><p class="MsoNormal">One of Mr Kuek’s concerns was that the payments were not disclosed to him and Mr Ong, and were authorised by the CEO and Mr O’Connor, who was the audit committee chairman, without Mr Kuek’s knowledge.</p><p class="MsoNormal">On Thursday, Mr Madhavan said that Mr Kuek was in the company’s office from January to February this year together with Mr Madhavan and Mr O’Connor, and had been privy to all conversations on the matters above and never voiced his objections.</p><p class="MsoNormal">As for the payment of professional fees, the company said Mr Kuek, Mr Madhavan and Mr O’Connor had verbally agreed to pay a certain amount to Mr O’Connor for work to be done since the takeover on Jan 9.</p><p class="MsoNormal">However, due to Singapore’s “circuit breaker” announced in April, Mr O’Connor could not continue his work and the Ministry of Manpower rejected his application to take on a secondary directorship with the firm.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The then board decided it was not possible for him to carry on as an independent non-executive director.</p><p class="MsoNormal">“Mr Madhavan felt that it is only fair to pay Mr O’Connor for additional work performed outside of his scope of work as independent non-executive director,” Magnus said.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Mr Ong, meanwhile, disagreed with the CEO on shared office rental and staff costs, as well as the shutting down of a micro algae plant.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Magnus said the two men had a difference of opinion about the expenses incurred by the company for the rental of shared office premises and the outsourcing of certain administrative functions to BWEPL.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Mr Madhavan is a director of BWEPL and holds about half of the shares in the firm. Mr Ong felt that Mr Madhavan stood to gain from the fees paid to BWEPL under the service agreement.</p><p class="MsoNormal">As for the micro algae plant in Malaysia, held by Magnus subsidiary MEG, Mr Ong disagreed with how Mr Madhavan handled the facility’s shutdown.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Mr Ong had “expressed his unhappiness” that Magnus was paying Anthony Reudavey, the director of Blue Water Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd (BWEM), to manage the plant’s closure. Mr Reudavey has also been Mr Madhavan’s business partner for two decades.</p><p class="MsoNormal">BWEM and BWEPL are separate entities and are not affiliated, Magnus noted.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Magnus shares have been suspended from trading since August 2019.</p><div><br /></div>Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691017365433016315.post-51721408725872894382020-05-09T15:53:00.001+08:002020-05-09T15:53:54.372+08:00Traders cry foul over losses from SocGen actions on SIA shorts<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Issuer of daily
leveraged certs used what some say is an aggressive formula to calculate the
price of SIA shares ex-rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">TRADERS in the 5x
Short Singapore Airlines (SIA) daily leverage certificates (DLCs) saw their
positions go to zero on Wednesday when SIA shares rose more than 20 per cent
upon trading ex-rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The short squeeze was
exacerbated after Societe Generale (SocGen), the issuer of the certificates,
used what some traders said is an aggressive formula to calculate the price of
SIA shares ex-rights. SocGen also gave them very little time to hedge their
bets in reaction, the traders said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The full damage is not
known but in the week ended May 1, over 1.8 million short DLCs worth S$1.4
million were in the hands of investors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">DLCs are instruments
that move either up or down based on the price of an underlying asset. A 5x
Short DLC will move inversely to the underlying asset price by a factor of
five, so a 20 per cent increase in SIA's share price would produce a 100 per
cent loss on the 5x Short SIA DLC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">At 8.38am on
Wednesday, after the market's pre-open session began at 8.30am, SocGen
announced via a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing that the theoretical ex-rights
price (TERP) of SIA shares based on the previous close would be adjusted to
S$3.71 - much lower than the S$4.16 many had assumed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">In March, SIA had
announced it would raise S$8.8 billion through a rights issue and another S$3.5
billion via a mandatory convertible bond (MCB) issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">In its offer document,
SIA had calculated a TERP that did not take into account the MCBs. This formula
would have yielded the S$4.16 price. SocGen's calculation, on the other hand,
assumes that all the MCBs would be held until maturity and fully converted into
shares at S$4.84.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">DLCs are predominantly
traded on an intra-day basis. An SIA spokesperson said: "It would not be
relevant to calculate the TERP based on MCBs prior to their maturity given the
different nature and trading characteristics of both types of securities (eg no
market quote/ price for MCBs prior to its issuance, compared to ordinary shares
traded on an exchange)."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The rights MCBs will
trade from May 13 to May 21.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">But a SocGen
spokesperson, in response to questions from The Business Times, said: "The
principle of a corporate action adjustment is to ensure any dilutive or
concentrative effect on the underlying asset price is offset by way of
adjusting the terms of the DLC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">"Since both the
rights shares and rights MCBs may have a dilutive impact on the stock price, in
our opinion both need to be taken into account for the adjustment. This was
done in accordance with the listing documents for single stock DLCs."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">To be sure, even if
SocGen had used the TERP of S$4.16, the intraday rise in SIA shares was still
more than 20 per cent. SIA shares reached an ex-rights high of S$5.04 on
Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">But traders said they
would have had more time to react if the higher price was used or if SocGen had
made its position clear sooner. Instead, a so-called "airbag
mechanism" was triggered 56 seconds after 9am on Wednesday - as soon as
SIA shares hit S$4.27, an increase of more than 15 per cent from SocGen's TERP.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">The airbag for a 5x
stock DLC causes the DLC to be suspended for 30 minutes if the underlying stock
moves adversely by 15 per cent, to slow the rate of loss to investors during
extreme market swings. But SIA shares continued to rise sharply while the DLCs
were suspended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Trading in the 5x
Short SIA DLCs is now permanently suspended as they will not recover in value
even if the underlying stock trades at a lower price, SocGen said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Phillip Securities
trader Robin Ho told BT: "Many investors who invested in this had used
S$4.16 as a benchmark and nobody knew that they (SocGen) would use another
benchmark, S$3.71. That's why the investors who lost money are saying that it's
not a fair game. They didn't know why the airbag burst."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">He added: "If I
had known that the airbag was going to burst, before the market opened I would
have hedged my position or cut my losses, knowing that when the airbag bursts
there's going to be a lot of short-covering in the market."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">SIA shares reached an
ex-rights high of S$5.04 on Wednesday, which works out to a pre-ex-rights price
of more than S$8.00. For comparison, SIA shares closed at S$5.91 on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Mr Ho believes the
surge in SIA shares and Long SIA DLCs on Wednesday was partly due to traders
having to quickly hedge their positions. "SIA's fundamentals remain poor,
nothing justifies why the price would go up."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">SIA was the most
active counter on the SGX that day, with 48.8 million shares changing hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Remisier Ellain Tan
said: "(For leveraged products), there is a significant difference between
S$3.71 and S$4.16. SocGen's ex-rights adjustment created a disproportionate
disadvantage to the short side, and a disproportionate advantage to the long
side. Whoever realised the mispricing could quickly buy up the long side,
creating demand for the mother shares and this would spiral (upwards)."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Asked what prevented
it from making the adjustment formula known at an earlier date even if the May
5 close price was not known yet, so that investors could anticipate the
adjustment, SocGen replied: "Due to the unprecedented and complex nature
of the rights issue, a significant amount of time has been spent to assess the
impact of the rights issue both on the theoretical value of the ordinary shares
of SIA and on the SIA DLCs. Further, the TERP could only be determined after
market close on May 5."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">It added: "We
fully appreciate the importance of keeping investors informed in a timely
manner of significant events impacting our products. We will, in any event,
continue to review our processes and take steps to ensure that investors'
interests continue to be carefully considered."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">There is also the
question of unusual trading activity during SIA's pre-close session on
Wednesday, when a block of 3 million shares changed hands just before 5.05pm,
pushing the share price down from S$4.63 to S$4.40, where it eventually closed.
On Friday, SIA shares finished one cent higher at at S$4.41.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Some traders
questioned if a party had been privy to how SocGen would make its ex-rights
adjustments, and chose to take advantage of this by first pushing the stock up
then letting go of a chunk of it later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Mr Ho said:
"Finding out who is the party who dumped the shares during the
after-market matching exercise is important, and only SGX and the MAS (Monetary
Authority of Singapore) have the means to do it."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">BT understands that
some traders have complained to SGX and MAS about SocGen's handling of the
ex-rights adjustment. SGX oversees the listing and regulation of DLCs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">In response to queries
from BT, an SGX spokesperson said: "SGX RegCo notes that the adjustment
announcement from SocGen on the SIA DLCs was announced via SGXNet on May 6 at
8.38am despite the announcement document carrying the date May 5.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">"Under the terms
and conditions of the DLC, SocGen is required to make known via SGXNet the
adjustment announcement as soon as practicable. SGX RegCo also requires DLC
issuers to announce the adjustment on SGXNet once determined, but in no event
later than the market day prior to the effective date of the adjustment. In
light of these developments, we are reviewing the situation."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">SGX also noted
investor queries on the adjustment factor and said it has asked SocGen for more
details. "We have also reviewed trading around the relevant period on May
6, 2020 and have thus far found nothing to suggest unusual activities," it
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">An MAS spokesperson
said: "SGX RegCo is reviewing the issues relating to SocGen's adjustment
announcement on the DLC in question. MAS will look into the matter if there are
any irregularities in the trading of the relevant securities."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Remisier Terry Tang
suggested that the regulators take steps to ensure that traders don't get
wrongfooted again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">For instance, trading
in DLCs should be halted when there is a complex corporate action in the
underlying counter, he said, with trading to resume only after the issuer
clarifies its adjustment formula.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Guanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com0