WikiFX report: Samtrade FX companies placed in judicial management

Following the freezing of its operations and client withdrawals amid the arrest of several members of its senior management, offshore Retail FX broker Samtrade FX has issued a statement (see full text below) noting that it has filed for its corporate and operating entities to be placed in “judicial management” – the Singapore equivalent of administration.

The “interim judicial managers” for Samtrade FX will be former PwC partner Goh Thien Phong and his GTP Advisory PAC, which specializes in corporate restructuring and insolvency, and Chan Kheng Tek from PwC Singapore.

From our perspective, the application means that Samtrade FX‘s management (at least the ones who aren’t currently incarcerated) believe that the companys problems with the Singapore regulator and police are not likely to be resolved in the near term, requiring outside managers for the company.

It also means that client assets at Samtrade FX are not likely to be unfrozen any time soon. The judicial managers are there to find and secure client assets, match them against what is supposed to be there based on company records and client claims, and then (eventually) return money to Samtrade FXs clients.

No mention was made of Samtrade FXs ASIC licensed operations in Australia, Samtrade (Australia) Pty Ltd, which as far as we can tell remain intact.

Samtrade FX was raided in late December, following a joint investigation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Police Force. Three of the company‘s management team were arrested, including (we believe) the company’s CEO and controlling shareholder, Sam Goh.

The action was taken as Samtrade FX was operating out of Singapore without holding a financial services license in the country. The authorities also noted that there is reason to suspect that irregular trading activities have been carried out on the platform.

The full text of the Samtrade FX statement issued today reads as follows:

CORPORATE STATEMENT

FILING OF COURT APPLICATION FOR JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM JUDICIAL MANAGERS

1. Reference is made to our corporate statement dated 3 January 2022 (https://www.samtradefx.com/news/corporate-statement-in-relation-to-media-release-3-jan-2022).

2. Our counsel, Messrs Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, have proceeded to file court applications with the High Court of Singapore on behalf of the following entities to place them into judicial management on 20 January 2022:

(a) Samtrade Custodian Limited;

(b) Samtrade Custodian Pte Ltd;

(c) S.A.M. Fintech Pte Ltd;

(d) Samtrade FX Limited;

(e) S.A.M. Marketing Pte Ltd; and

(f) S.A.M. Trade (V) Limited,

and to appoint Mr Goh Thien Phong from GTP Advisory PAC and Mr Chan Kheng Tek from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Pte Ltd jointly and severally as interim judicial managers.

3. We will provide further updates after the Court has fixed a hearing date for the respective applications.

4. Further updates on material developments will also be provided, as and when appropriate.