Singapore’s long-serving Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, and his deputy, Lawrence Wong, are reportedly going through increasing scrutiny over the fallout from the collapse of FTX.
Temasek insists it exercised due diligence in FTX funding
This week, the 2 are set to reply a number of parliamentary questions regarding losses suffered by Singaporean retail buyers in Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. Loong and his deputy will even face questions over the due diligence undertaken by Temasek Holdings. This state-owned investor just lately wrote off $275 million it had put into the collapsed crypto change.
In a Fb put up over the weekend, former Temasek CEO Ho Ching stated, “A loss in what could grow to be a badly managed firm with out grownup supervision is egg on our face.”
Nonetheless, she additionally defended Temasek’s overarching funding technique, saying that a few of its finest funding selections have been made “by being contrarian.”
In anticipation of the upcoming grilling by Singapore’s parliament, the state holding firm, which oversees a web portfolio price $294 billion, just lately up to date an explainer web page on its web site to say that it undertook several rounds of due diligence into FTX, together with an inquiry into the “relationship, preferential therapy, and separation” between FTX and its sister firm, Alameda Analysis. In accordance with the up to date data, Temasek was given the required affirmation that was deemed contractually binding.
Singapore retreats from retail crypto market
Singapore has lengthy positioned itself as a world monetary hub and probably the most welcoming jurisdictions for crypto. However in October, indicators started rising that the city-state was retreating from the retail crypto sector when it signaled that it will impose new consumer restrictions.
The Financial Authority of Singapore (MAS) printed a session paper outlining a number of proposals for safeguarding Singaporeans in opposition to the unpredictable crypto business. Some proposals included banning retail buyers from borrowing funds to purchase crypto and stopping crypto platforms from utilizing funds deposited by retail buyers for staking or lending to generate yield.
The nation’s rethink on crypto was knowledgeable by the latest blowups of digital asset platforms, together with Hodlnaut, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Voyager, and Celsius.
Dubai finds itself within the eye of the storm
Singapore isn’t the one city-state grappling with the aftershocks of FTX’s collapse. Dubai, which has been working to draw the largest crypto firms on this planet with crypto-friendly insurance policies, had earlier granted FTX an operating license via its Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority (VARA).
In accordance with Dubai World Commerce Heart Authority director-general Helal Al Marri, the transfer got here after a rigorous analysis course of. However with FTX going bust and Sam Bankman-Fried the topic of a number of investigations, officers have sought to distance themselves from that call, even going so far as revoking the two-month previous license.