Singapore

Singapore’s top financial regulator reprimanded the cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, saying that it supplied false information to officials and managed more assets than allowed, the Wall Street Journal reported. The firm, which was recently ordered to liquidate by a court in the British Virgin lslands, previously gave false or misleading information to regulators when it transferred management of its fund in September 2021 to an entity in the offshore tax haven, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Thursday.

A Singapore court has charged 47-year-old U.K. national James Henry O’Sullivan with two additional counts of allegedly abetting falsification of documents, according to local police, Bloomberg News reported. O’Sullivan allegedly helped Singaporean businessman R. Shanmugaratnam to falsify documents and issue letters that falsely claimed certain amounts of money were held in a bank under escrow, the Singapore Police Force said Thursday in a statement on its website.

Singapore authorities aim to conclude their probe of commodity trader Noble Group Ltd. and its subsidiary for potential breaches by the third quarter, with investigations now at an advanced stage, Bloomberg News reported. The investigations -- which have been ongoing since November 2018 -- involve suspected disclosure-related offenses, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s enforcement report published on Wednesday.

Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose in March by its fastest pace in a decade, outpacing economist forecasts, driven by higher inflation for food and services, official data showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The core inflation rate — the central bank's favoured price measure - rose to 2.9% in March on a year-on-year basis, the highest since March 2012. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a 2.4% increase.

Singapore's central bank tightened its monetary policy settings on Tuesday in its first out-of-cycle move in seven years, as global supply constraints and brisk economic demand elevate inflation pressures across the region, Reuters reported. The city-state's trade-dependent economy is highly susceptible to swings in global inflation and the central bank's sudden move comes as price pressures ring alarm bells for policymakers elsewhere in Asia.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. became the first carrier to tap the debt market for dollars in 2022, raising funds at a discount to peers thanks to its government backing, Bloomberg News reported. The flag carrier sold $600 million of seven-year bonds to yield 3.493%. That’s nearly a percentage point lower than the average yield at issuance for global airline notes sold in 2021, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. In 2021 Air Canada borrowed for five years at 3.875% while United Airlines Holdings Inc. had a 4.625% yield at issue for 8 years, the data show.

Singapore is about to get its first blank-check listings, as special purpose acquisition companies backed by Temasek Holdings Pte. and Tikehau Capital SCA kicked off their sales, Bloomberg News reported. Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation Ltd., sponsored by state investor Temasek’s Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., is seeking at least S$170 million ($125 million) in its initial public offering, while Tikehau-backed Pegasus Asia could raise at least S$150 million, prospectuses filed on Thursday showed.

Singapore's economy expanded at its fastest annual pace in over a decade in 2021 as the country emerged from its worst recession on record, caused by the deep hit to activity from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The city-state's economy grew 7.2% in 2021, preliminary data showed on Monday, broadly in line with the government's official projection and rebounding from the record 5.4% contraction in 2020.

Australia on Friday won a landmark court ruling against Singapore Telecommunications, a victory in the country’s battle against tax avoidance by multinational companies through cross-border financing arrangements, Bloomberg News reported. The Federal Court of Australia on Friday dismissed the company’s appeal of a tax assessment related to the acquisition financing of Singtel Optus in 2001.