Asia First - Wed 13 Aug 2025
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CNA
8 minutes ago
- CNA
Tokenize Xchange operator placed under interim judicial management
SINGAPORE: A group of seven investors on Friday (Aug 15) succeeded in getting the High Court to have AmazingTech – the operator of troubled cryptocurrency trading platform Tokenize Xchange – placed under interim judicial management. The High Court has approved the appointment of corporate advisory and restructuring firm KordaMentha's Mr Cameron Duncan, Mr David Kim and Mr Joshua Jeyaraj as the interim judicial managers who will take over the running of the company. The interim judicial managers will have to submit a report on the company's situation to the High Court by Sep 10. A hearing for a judicial management application will be held no later than Sep 15. Judicial management is a legal process in which a distressed company is placed under the control of an independent judicial manager – typically a professional with expertise in insolvency and restructuring – appointed by the court. Interim judicial management, as its name suggests, is a temporary measure before a full judicial management order is granted by the court. The seven investors, who are users of Tokenize Xchange, first applied to the High Court on Aug 5 to place AmazingTech under judicial management. A second application seeking interim judicial management was filed on Aug 6, considering that a hearing for a judicial management could take several weeks. The group of seven has not been able to withdraw their investment holdings worth a total of S$4 million (US$3.12 million) since the platform said in July it had ceased operations in Singapore. The lawyers on Friday also submitted to the court letters of support for the interim judicial management, garnered from 146 people with S$47 million in total held by the trading platform. Founded in 2017, Tokenize Xchange has operations in countries in the region, such as Singapore and Malaysia, serving both individual and institutional investors. Last month, it said that it had ceased its Singapore operations after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rejected its application for a digital payment token licence. It was previously operating under an exemption in Singapore. As part of its winding down process in Singapore, the platform put in place a phased withdrawal process for its users. For example, those with portfolio values under S$10,000 can withdraw or transfer their assets from Jul 17 until Jul 31, and those with portfolios between S$10,000 and S$99,999 can do so from Aug 1 until Aug 31, according to an email sent to users on Jul 17 and seen by CNA. Customers whose portfolios are worth S$100,000 or more can withdraw their assets from Sep 1 to Sep 30. But investors have faced difficulties withdrawing their investments, with several telling CNA that the status of their requests has remained 'in transit' for weeks. under investigation for potential offences, including fraudulent trading. Hong Qi Yu, a director of AmazingTech and the founder-CEO of Tokenize Xchange, was charged on Jul 31 with fraudulent trading. Some investors are mulling other forms of legal action, including a class action suit to recover their losses. Dauntless Law Chambers, the law firm representing another group of investors, said several statutory demands were filed against AmazingTech earlier this week, with the intention of winding up the firm and appointing a liquidator if payment was not made within 21 days.
CNA
8 minutes ago
- CNA
Indonesian President Prabowo touts progress in his first State of the Nation address
Indonesia's president is standing firm on his pledge to root out corruption in his first State of the Nation Address. Prabowo Subianto says billions of dollars of the state budget had been "saved" by his administration's crackdown. Mr Prabowo also highlighted other key achievements almost a year since taking office. He touted the country's faster-than-expected economic growth, low unemployment rate and a slew of ambitious social welfare initiatives. Chandni Vatvani reports from Jakarta.
CNA
8 minutes ago
- CNA
Free meals clause in Bukit Canberra hawker contracts will be removed from renewed tenancy agreements
SINGAPORE: The clauses requiring Bukit Canberra hawkers to provide free meals will be removed when their tenancy agreements are renewed in September, the operator said on Friday (Aug 15). In a post on Facebook, Canopy Hawkers Group said it has 'heard the feedback and concerns" that have been raised. A 2024 version of the contract seen by CNA states that a stall tenant 'shall participate' in the pay-it-forward programme 'as implemented and/or directed by the company', requiring them to set aside 100 meals at their own cost for the scheme. Lawyers told CNA on Thursday that the wording of the clause in the existing contracts, particularly the use of the word 'shall', suggested that tenants are legally obligated to participate in the scheme. Canopy Hawkers Group previously said that it initially included the clause because the tenants were selected based on their willingness to participate in the pay-it-forward programme. 'At that time, we felt it was important to include the commitment as a clause in the tenancy agreement because other hawkers had lost out on securing a stall based on, among other things, this commitment,' the operator said in its Facebook post on Friday. Acknowledging again that participation in charitable causes should be voluntary, the operator said: 'But given the circumstances, we saw the arrangement as one that balanced both the voluntary involvement with the fulfillment of their promises.' Some hawkers had shared that they may not be able to fulfill their commitments 'even though they would have liked to, if their circumstances had been better', said Canopy Hawkers Group in the Facebook post. The operator also said it learned that the meal assistance programme running in the constituency where Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre is located relies on voluntary contributions from patrons, not hawkers. 'We therefore decided to hold back on implementing the 'Pay-It-Forward' initiative, and may decide not to proceed based on the current concept,' the operator said. This is why no hawkers have been penalised for not providing free meals under the tenancy agreements and the management does not intend to enforce the obligation in the future, it said in its post. 'This is a commitment we are making publicly.' The operator also addressed the interest in budget meals provided at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, which it noted was different from the programme meant to provide free meals to customers in need. 'To provide residents with a range of offerings at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, we work with our hawkers to offer food options at different price points. This includes more affordable value meals,' it said in its post on Friday. 'These value meals do not form a large part of the meals sold, and our hawkers are not expected to make a loss selling value meals.' Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre is one of several social enterprise hawker centres in Singapore. In 2024, then-Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon said that all social enterprise hawker centre operators must propose ways to ensure affordable food options are available as part of their tender proposals. "So far operators have committed that all stalls in their centres will provide at least one value meal option. This is not an attempt to force hawkers to sell all of their dishes at low prices,' he had said at the time.
