Briefs

Malaysian ruling party leader Anwar Ibrahim, who cut a deal to become the country’s next prime minister ahead of last year’s election, said in a Sept 18 interview with Bloomberg that he should take power around May 2020.

“There’s an understanding that it should be around that time, but I don’t think I should be too petty about the exact month,” Anwar said when asked whether the transition would happen two years after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad took power. “But there is this understanding that he will resign and that I should assume [the post].”

Questions over when Anwar will take power have loomed over Malaysian politics ever since Mahathir led the coalition to a surprise victory last year. The persistent conflict between him and Mahathir’s other likely successor, Minister of Economic Affairs Azmin Ali, has raised the possibility that the 94-year-old would extend his stay in power as the ruling party struggled to contain internal dissent.

Anwar, 72, also dismissed reports that Azmin or Mukhriz Mahathir, the prime minister’s son, would be considered for the role instead of him. “There’s no sign of any party introducing or promoting or lobbying for other names,” Anwar said. “This does not stop other individuals with ambitions with their own design [sic]. And this to me is quite irrelevant. Whether it has been discussed, whether it has been given legitimacy ­— the answer is no.”

AirAsia co-founder to quit all posts except in AirAsia Group, AirAsia X

AirAsia Group co-founder and group CEO Tony Fernandes wants to step down from all his posts, except in AirAsia Group and AirAsia X. Fernandes tweeted on Sept 18 that the decision was so that the next generation of AirAsia’s management team could move up. He did not indicate when it would take place. Last month, AirAsia announced a leadership re-organisation as it transformed from just an airline into a travel and financial platform company.

Besides running the group, Fernandes doubles as CEO of airasia.com, which is positioned as AirAsia’s travel and lifestyle portal.

Temasek’s Vertex closes record US$305 mil Southeast Asian fund

Vertex Venture Holdings, a unit of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, has closed its fourth Southeast Asia and India fund at a record US$305 million ($420.4 million). The amount raised was unprecedented for an early-stage investment vehicle in the region, underscoring growing interest in its start-up scene. The new fund of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India — the first institution to back ride-hailing giant Grab — far exceeded its original target of US$230 million.

Vertex is among Southeast Asia’s best-performing venture capitalist firms. Its first Southeast Asia and India fund had returned 19.1% as at March, its second returned 24.3% and its third, 36.4%, according to the firm. That is the reason for Spanish tech investment fund Galdana Ventures’ continued relationship with the company in its fourth fund and “with a larger commitment amount”, Roque Velasco, Galdana’s managing partner, says in a statement.

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India has made 40 investments so far, including in digital cross-border money transfer service provider InstaReM and P2P lender Validus Capital. The company plans to continue investing in Series A-stage start-ups in enterprise technology, fintech and consumer internet.

Investors are putting money into venture capital in this region to capitalise on opportunities beyond the US and China, which had been the primary focus of deals in recent years. With the slowdown in China, investors are now focusing on outfits with strong records internationally, says Alex Schmitz, managing partner and head of Asia-Pacific at Capstone Partners, which helped with fundraising for Vertex’s new fund.

Singapore still a top global FX centre

The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that Singapore’s average daily foreign exchange trading volume has increased 22% to reach an all-time high of US$633 billion, from US$517 billion in April 2016. Thus, Singapore will keep its position as one of the world’s largest FX centres. It is ranked third, with a 7.6% share of global FX volume this April.

Across G10 and emerging-market currencies, Singapore’s FX market saw broad-based growth. The top-five traded currencies in Singapore were the US dollar, Japanese yen, euro, Australian dollar and the Singapore dollar. The trading volumes for the currencies have increased between 24% and 45% from 2016, except for the yen, which saw a 4% drop in volume.

In terms of FX instruments, spot and FX swaps turnovers increased strongly by 26% and 35%, respectively, between April 2016 and April 2019. FX options and currency swaps increased 9% and 6% in volume, respectively, while forwards turnover declined 6%. FX swaps accounted for 53% of average daily turnover, up from 48%, followed by spot (24%) and forwards (15%).

Meanwhile, the over-the-counter interest rate derivatives market continues to show strong growth, with average daily volumes jumping 87% to US$109 billion in April 2019, compared with US$58 billion in April 2016. The most actively traded instruments in Singapore were the Australian dollar (32%), US dollar (21%) and Singapore dollar (9%) interest rate derivatives. — By Samantha Chiew

SIA to continue sponsoring Singapore Grand Prix

National carrier Singapore Airlines will continue to be the title sponsor of Singapore’s Formula 1 Grand Prix for an additional two years until 2021.

This year’s race will be the 11th event in Singapore. SIA first signed on in 2014 to be the night race’s sponsor for four years, taking over from Singapore Telecommunications. The Marina Bay Circuit spans 5.063km, with 23 corners and a unique feature on Turn 18, where drivers pass under a grandstand.

SingPost’s US e-commerce units seek bankruptcy protection

Singapore Post on Sept 19 announced that its two e-commerce units in the US — Jagged Peak and TradeGlobal — have filed for voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, having failed to find buyers after nearly six months.

During this period, 105 interested parties signed non-disclosure agreements, leading to eight expressions of interest and finally two non-binding offers. However, the offers were on terms and conditions that the group found to be commercially unfeasible, and thus SingPost ended the sale process. These two US companies were acquired under SingPost’s previous management that was in a rapid expansion bid.

“Based on our understanding, the US subsidiaries will proceed to sell their assets, which should largely be property, plant and equipment fixtures, and other software systems that the US subsidiaries may have,” write DBS Group Research analysts Lim Rui Wen and Sachin Mittal in their Sept 19 report.

The two US subsidiaries will also no longer be included in the group’s consolidated financial reports. In the group’s latest quarter ended June, the unaudited consolidated loss arising from the US subsidiaries came up to about $6.9 million. — By Samantha Chiew