Singapore regulator reviews fund manager over nickel trading scheme

HANOI, March 22 (Reuters) - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is conducting a supervisory review of Envysion Wealth Management Pte Ltd following an alleged fraud involving nickel trading by two other companies, it said in a statement on Monday.

The move followed a police investigation, announced last month, of Envy Global Trading Pte and Envy Asset Management Pte for alleged fraud after they raised funds from investors that were meant to finance nickel trading.

The regulator's statement said that Ng Yu Zhi, a director at both Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, is alleged to have cheated Envysion Wealth Management and its founder and chief executive Shim Wai Han of at least S$48 million ($35.80 million).

The regulator's review is to ascertain if there have been governance or risk management failures by the board and senior management of Envysion Wealth Management, a MAS-licensed fund manager, the statement said.

MAS said it has directed Envysion Wealth Management to cease accepting new monies for investment into Envy Global Trading's nickel scheme and to appoint an independent third party to oversee all transactions of the fund's bank accounts.

Calls to Envysion Wealth Management went unanswered outside regular business hours in Singapore.

A media representative for Envy Global Trading did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the regulator's statement with reference to the allegations against Envy Global Trading and Ng.

Envy Asset Management was a precursor to Envy Global Trading before an internal restructuring in June 2020 and is now inactive.

($1 = 1.3406 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Additional reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore. Editing by Jane Merriman)