It's been three long years ayondo, what are you still waiting for?

RANKLED investors of Catalist-listed ayondo - proclaimed the first pure-play fintech to be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) - have been waiting more than three years to see any sort of return on their investment.

In the interim, the company's affairs continue to raise questions faster than old ones can be answered. And earlier this month, investors were told that an expected deal is facing some hiccups.

The stock had lost three-fourths of its value in the first three months after its float in March 2018. The company's claims of being a "sophisticated" online trading platform unravelled within months of its listing, alongside ballooning losses and a cash-flow pickle that prompted a rethink on the use of initial public offering (IPO) proceeds.

A rift with the company's controlling shareholders over business matters saw the chief executive bow out, in what was the beginning of a spate of resignations involving top brass.

And the final straw: controversy over the accounting treatment of a key operating subsidiary in the United Kingdom, which raised doubts over its regulatory capital position.

The market's disdain was evident: From the IPO price of 26 Singapore cents, the stock fell to 4.8 Singapore cents at end-January 2019 before trading in the counter was suspended. It remains suspended.

Its short trading life on SGX ranks it high on the list of IPO failures, alongside Eagle Hospitality Trust. How did ayondo get past regulatory hurdles to list in the first place? And what has gone wrong since its listing?

Not-so-"rich" pickings?

By August 2019, ayondo would find itself "businessless" after it sold its UK subsidiary - the one in the eye of the accounting storm - and its assets in Switzerland and Germany became insolvent.

The company has continued to seek extension after extension from SGX to submit a proposal for trading resumption.

In July last year, a tiny glimmer of hope emerged.

The company proposed to acquire Hong-Kong-based money lender Rich Glory International Investment in a transaction that would result in a reverse takeover.

This deal, ayondo said, would position the company to expand into new business areas, grow revenues and rebuild shareholder value. Alas, it has been riddled with delays.

As part of the trading resumption plan, SGX required ayondo to submit a finalised draft of the shareholders' circular on the proposed deal. This is to allow SGX to clear the circular ahead of release to shareholders. That process appears to be taking longer than expected.

The board of ayondo has sought more time - at least thrice - to do so, citing slower due diligence process of the target given the pandemic, a change of accountants by the target company and "certain audit issues".

But by now, the process has taken an uncomfortably long time.

Based on its latest application for an extension of time from SGX, it now has till end-July to get its act together.

Slow burn

Meanwhile, it came to light last October that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the city state's white-collar crime buster - the Commercial Affairs Department - have questioned two ayondo directors and ordered ayondo to provide information in relation to an investigation into a possible offence under the Securities and Futures Act.

Very little is known on the progress of the probe - as is often the case with these investigations, until the regulators are ready to act.

In response to queries from The Business Times, an SGX spokesperson said: "SGX is reviewing if listing rule breaches have occurred at ayondo. We will coordinate our actions, if any with the relevant authorities."

An MAS spokesperson said the regulator was "unable to share any further information at this point of time, given the ongoing investigations".

In ayondo's latest annual report, an independent auditor flagged material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about its ability as a going concern. The company's only lifeline, curiously, is a British Virgin Islands-incorporated entity, which has been subscribing to ayondo's convertible notes "at its discretion" in several tranches since 2019.

For ayondo's shareholders, the situation has become a slow burn with the only constant being elusive profits. The train that investors gleefully hopped on some three years ago has turned into a wreck.