Anshuman Daga News

A Singapore trade data sharing platform backed by banks, commodity houses and state firms has signed up 70 participants as part of the city-state's attempts to bolster confidence after a spate of commodity trade finance frauds in recent years.The Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex), whose founders include banks DBS and Standard Chartered, commodity trader Trafigura and the local tech regulator, Infocomm Media Development Authority, was launched on Wednesday after plans were announced last year."We're trying to replicate what's happening in the physical world…

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) has agreed to a multi-billion dollar merger with Keppel Corp's larger offshore and marine unit, a year after the Temasek-backed firms began deal talks to cope with an industry downturn.The loss-making oil rig builders have been whiplashed by years of oversupply and oil price volatility as well as a drop in new orders.Such troubles have been exacerbated by the global transition towards renewable energy, consolidation at Chinese and South Korean rivals…

Singapore state investor Temasek is working with its portfolio companies to help them become more green as advancing sustainability goals becomes the new normal, the firm's chief sustainability officer said on Thursday.Temasek, with a portfolio valued at S$381 billion ($278.81 billion) as of March, has committed more than S$2 billion this year to the decarbonization sector alone, Steve Howard told the Reuters Next conference."We want to work with those companies and help make sure that they are supported in having transition plans," Howard added.

Temasek-backed Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp and smaller rival Sembcorp Marine are exploring a potential tie-up which would see them combine their struggling offshore and marine (O&M) businesses after years of losses in an industry downturn.A successful deal would see Keppel spin off the new business into a listed entity and ultimately exit from the legacy business. Temasek would become the largest shareholder in the combined unit, while Sembcorp will also own a stake in it.Keppel's O&M unit…

A Singapore court has approved a freeze on up to $3.5 billion of assets of the family behind collapsed Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, boosting the prospect of debt recovery from the former oil trading empire that counts some of the world's biggest banks among its creditors.Hin Leong was wound up in March after failing in a year-long effort to restructure more than $3 billion in debts after the COVID-19-led oil crash laid bare huge losses. Founder Lim Oon Kuin admitted in a court document…

Singapore port operator Jurong Port has completed its acquisition of a stake in a major oil storage terminal in the city-state from the family behind collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, a port spokesman said on Saturday.The spokesman said government-owned Jurong Port had completed the purchase of a 41% stake in Universal Terminal from the Lim family. He declined to give details on the transaction.A lawyer for the family did not immediately respond to a Reuters email…

The court-appointed manager for Ocean Tankers Pte Ltd has applied to the Singapore court to return most of the ships the company manages to the shipowners, as cash is running low and Ocean Tankers will not be able to maintain the fleet, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.If successful, the move will allow Ocean Tankers, the chartering arm of embattled oil trader Hin Leong Pte Ltd, to resume its cash-generating business such as its oil lubricants business, for which a sales process is underway…

The court-appointed manager of Singapore Ocean Tankers (Pte.) Ltd is seeking to reclaim about $19 million from the Lim family directors of the firm, who allegedly transferred the funds from the shipping company to their accounts in April, court documents show.The interim judicial managers from EY said the Lim family "breached their fiduciary duties" by transferring the funds when Ocean Tankers was insolvent.Ocean Tankers, owned by Oon Kuin Lim, founder of embattled oil firm Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, and his daughter Lim Huey Ching, was placed under interim judicial management on May 12.The EY managers said in a statement of claim filed…

Temasek Holding's $3 billion bid to acquire a controlling stake in Keppel Corp will be under scrutiny on Thursday as a big quarterly profit drop at the conglomerate could raise the risk of the state investor dropping its proposal, analysts said.Keppel last week warned that material impairments relating to its offshore and marine segment (O&M) would hurt profits, which analysts say could breach so-called material adverse change (MAC) clauses of Temasek's offer.Analysts said the impairments would typically affect net asset value and net profit after tax…

The family that owns beleaguered Singaporean oil trader Hin Leong Trading (HLT) is seeking to block creditor OCBC's request to appoint overseers for the family's Xihe Holdings and four other subsidiaries to recoup its debt.Oversea Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) applied last week for the Singapore High Court to appoint judicial managers over Xihe, owned by the family of Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin, known as O.K. Lim.Kenny Lim Oon Cheng, Xihe Holdings interim chief executive, said…

Members of Singapore’s Lim family have asked a court to stop law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP (R&T) from working for court-appointed supervisors to two companies in the Lim’s embattled oil trading empire, Evan Lim Chee Meng told Reuters.Lim and his sister, Lim Huey Ching, filed an application to restrain R&T from acting for the judicial managers of fleet manager Ocean Tankers Pte Ltd, Lim said in an email on Friday. A similar application had been made in regard to oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, he said.They filed application on behalf of Ocean Tankers and Hin Leong Trading. Lim and his sister are directors of both companies.The actions are the latest in a series stemming from the collapse earlier this year of Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers…

Singapore's Temasek Holdings stepped in on Monday to support a S$2.1 billion ($1.5 billion) rights issue by Sembcorp Marine as the state investor moves to help the city-state's struggling rig-building sector.Following the deal, loss-making Sembcorp Marine, which has been hit hard by an industry downturn, plans to demerge from its parent company Sembcorp Industries."It's just the next step in Singapore's long overdue consolidation of the offshore and marine sector," said KGI Securities analyst Joel Ng.

Singapore-based container ship operator Pacific International Lines Pte (PIL) has agreed with most of its financial lenders to defer debt payments and is in talks with a unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings for a potential investment.PIL said in a statement on Tuesday that it had made significant progress in cutting asset costs due to the challenges the sector has been facing but the coronavirus pandemic had made matters worse over the past month.“Due to the situation, the company had commenced discussions with 15 of its financial lenders with a view to concluding a formal agreement concerning a debt-reprofiling plan with these stakeholders…

Two EY executives in Singapore have been appointed interim judicial managers of Ocean Tankers, the accounting firm said on Tuesday, following a Singapore court hearing to consider the shipping company's request to appoint independent managers.Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd (OTPL) is owned by the Lim family which also owns Singapore's oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, itself placed under judicial management in April as it seeks to restructure billions of dollars of debt.Under judicial management, a court appoints independent managers to run the affairs of a financially distressed company in place of existing management, a move that is often…

Singaporean shipping firm Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, a unit of troubled oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, has applied to be placed under the management of a court-appointed supervisor, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Singapore's High Court is due to hold a hearing on an application by Ocean Tankers on Tuesday, according to a notice on the Supreme Court website. The notice did not give further details.Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Hin Leong, one of Asia's top oil traders, was placed under judicial management late last month as it seeks to restructure billions of dollars of debt.Hin Leong owes $3.8 billion to 23 banks…

The founder and director of Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (HLT) directed the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years, he said in a court filing reviewed by Reuters.The affidavit signed by Lim Oon Kuin, a Singaporean in his 70s widely known as O.K. Lim, is part of a Friday filing to the Singapore High Court by HLT and subsidiary Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, seeking a six-month moratorium on debts of $3.85 billion to 23 banks.The filing cites a collapse in the oil price and the coronavirus pandemic…

Singapore oil trader Hin Leong held a call with banks on Tuesday after they failed to provide a letter of credit to the firm to purchase at least one cargo of oil products due to load this month, four sources said.The coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented slump in fuel demand and hammered oil prices, making it difficult for trading firms to make a profit. Hin Leong is one of the largest fuel traders in Asia and an operator of a major tanker fleet.Several banks which offer credit facilities to Hin Leong held a call with the company and its advisers on Tuesday…

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings is offering to buy control of conglomerate Keppel Corp in a S$4.1 billion ($3 billion) deal that could hasten a consolidation in the rig building sector which is battling the effects of low oil prices.The announcement, which confirmed what two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday, boosted shares in rig builder Sembcorp Marine by 12% on expectations of a likely shake-up in the industry. Shares in Sembcorp's parent Sembcorp Industries rose 10%.Keppel's offshore and marine unit…

Hong Kong is to release armoured vehicles belonging to Singapore impounded in the Chinese-ruled city on their way home from military exercises in Taiwan, Singapore said on Tuesday. Hong Kong customs seized the troop carriers in November. Beijing, which regained sovereignty over the former British colony of Hong Kong in 1997, then warned countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan. Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said Hong Kong authorities would release the Singapore Armed Forces' troop carriers and other equipment to the Singapore government but the ministry did not give details. Hong Kong's commissioner of Customs and Excise, Roy Tang, said in a statement the vehicles were seized because of "a suspected breach of the Hong Kong law".

Commodities trader Noble Group reported a second- quarter loss of $1.75 billion on Thursday, weeks after warning it faced its steepest quarterly loss in a year and a half and would slash jobs and sell assets to cut debt. Once Asia's largest commodities trading house, Noble is slimming down drastically to its core Asian coal trading business after a crisis-wracked two years. Last month, it announced the sale of its U.S. gas and power business and began a process to sell its oil liquids unit. "Conservative liquidity management, scaling back of risk positions and constraints placed on the group's access to trade finance lines led to disruption costs and prevented the group from taking advantage of profitable opportunities," the Singapore-listed company said in a statement on Thursday.

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) sees the potential to develop new freight derivatives centred on active Asian shipping routes and expand the use of freight derivatives with its acquisition of London's Baltic Exchange, a senior SGX official told Reuters. "We believe there are a number of opportunities that the Baltic Exchange and SGX can realise together, including the creation and adoption of new benchmarks of Asian shipping routes," Michael Syn, head of derivatives at SGX told Reuters. The Baltic's daily benchmark rates and indices are used to trade and settle freight contracts as well as for settling freight derivatives, or FFAs, that allow investors to take positions on freight rates in the future.

Trading in shares of Noble Group was halted on Wednesday, just days after the commodities trader said it was very close to reaching final terms with a group of senior creditors to restructure its debt. The Singapore-listed company asked for the trading halt pending the release of a statement. Embattled Noble has been negotiating a $3.4 billion debt-for-equity swap - crucial to its survival - after selling billions of dollars of assets, taking hefty writedowns and cutting hundreds of jobs over the past three years. The Hong Kong-headquartered firm, which reported a $4.9 billion loss for 2017, also said on Monday that it had opted not to pay the coupon on a $750 million bond which was due last week. Noble has a $379 million bond that matures on March 20.

Noble Group Ltd said this week's resignation of its founder Richard Elman was due to "amicable differences" with the board and a group of senior creditors who are negotiating a debt restructuring that is crucial for its survival. The clarification, in response to a query from the Singapore bourse, comes days after Goldilocks, an Abu Dhabi Financial Group equity fund - a leading shareholder of Noble - filed a lawsuit in Singapore against the firm and some of its former and current senior executives, including Elman, alleging they inflated Noble's assets. Singapore-listed Noble said it planned to resist any and all allegations or claims made against it.