Mercuria and Singapore fund manager Envysion cancel investment pact

Mercuria Holdings

30/03/2021 09:55

HANOI, March 30 (Reuters) - Trading house Mercuria Energy
Trading and Singapore-based asset manager Envysion Wealth
Management have terminated an agreement to jointly invest in
mining and energy projects that was signed only in January,
Envysion said on Tuesday.
    "Regarding the co-investment agreement with Mercuria, both
Envysion and Mercuria have agreed mutually to terminate the
present agreement and put this project on hold," an Envysion
spokesman said in a statement to Reuters.
    "Given the multiple incidents that have had happened in the
commodity industry since the beginning of 2020, both Envysion
and Mercuria are using the opportunity to review our
collaboration," the spokesman said. 
    A string of scandals involving Singapore trading firms last
year shook investor and banker confidence in the commodities
sector, before an alleged nickel fraud scheme - in which
Envysion was purportedly a victim - came to light in February.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2GK2N2  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LL01N  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LR0FS
    Envysion and its chief executive were alleged to have been
cheated in the nickel trading scheme, which had raised at least
S$1 billion ($742.12 million) from investors, and the company
was being reviewed by Singapore's central bank as a result.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LK0XY
    Mercuria itself alleges it was a victim of fraud in a
separate case last year. Its lawyer said earlier this month
Mercuria had launched a civil suit against a Turkish firm after
paving stones were shipped to China instead of the $36 million
of copper Mercuria had agreed to buy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2L74LA
    Mercuria did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
    The pact with Envysion heralded a rare partnership with a
fund for Mercuria, one of the world's biggest oil traders, and
was supposed to see it present potential projects for investment
to Envysion, founded and led by former Julius Baer  BAER.S 
banker Veronica Shim.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JI1ZW
 
($1 = 1.3475 Singapore dollars)

 (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; editing by David Evans)
 ((mai.nguyen@thomsonreuters.com; +842438259623; Reuters
Messaging: mai.nguyen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))