Catalist-listed Ayondo's application to extend the submission deadline for a proposal to resume trading has been accepted by the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Shares of Ayondo were halted and then suspended from trading since January 30, 2019, after it faced intense scrutiny over its financial situation, business viability issues, and concerns raised by regulators over its compliance requirements in the UK. According to SGX's listing rules, the social trading and brokerage firm had to submit a proposal with a view to resuming trading within 12 months of this suspension date.
Earlier in January, the loss-making firm said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange that it had submitted an application to extend this deadline by three months, until April 30, 2020. The request was made in order to complete the proposed change of its current auditors, and complete its quarterly reports after it has experienced senior staff turnover.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Ayondo said:
"The Board wishes to inform that the SGX-ST has on 25 February 2020 informed that it has no objection to the Company's application for a three (3) months extension of time (from the deadline of 31 January 2020) under Rule 1304(1) of the Section B: Rules of Catalist of the SGX-ST Listing Manual ("Catalist Rules") to submit a proposal with a view to resume trading in the Company's securities (the "Resumption Proposal") by 30 April 2020 (the "Waiver")."
On its rationale for the deadline extension, Ayondo said that upon completion of these measures, the group believes it would be in a better position to submit resumption proposals to the Singapore bourse.
Ayondo, which was the first fintech company to IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), faced working capital deficiency from continued losses. According to its filings, the business was hit hard by regulatory changes relating to product intervention imposed by European and UK regulators.
To resolve these issues, Ayondo tried to reduce its liabilities through the sale of its UK unit Ayondo Markets Limited (AML) for £5.7 million to its Netherlands-based white label partner BUX Holdings. The deal was completed in mid-2019 after Singapore's regulators told Ayondo earlier to put on hold its plan to dispose of AML pending clarity over its financial situation as well as compliance with the FCA in the UK.
Ayondo offers a broad spectrum of social trading and brokerage services that cover both retail and institutional sectors. The group claims to have 210,000 users from 195 countries on its social Trading Platform .
