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.
Investors were hit with more bad news when the Singapore Police Force and the MAS said on Aug 1 that AmazingTech and its related entities are 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.
Managing director Suresh Divyanathan said he is still finalising the list of investors who wish to proceed with the class action suit, and expects to launch a case next week.
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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.
Related:
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.
Investors were hit with more bad news when the Singapore Police Force and the MAS said on Aug 1 that AmazingTech and its related entities are 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.
Managing director Suresh Divyanathan said he is still finalising the list of investors who wish to proceed with the class action suit, and expects to launch a case next week.
Continue reading...