Sakae attempts to defend the indefensible after humiliating query from SGX RegCo

THE tortured justification from Sakae Holdings this past week for using the term "close collaboration" to describe its interactions with Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) was both amusing and troubling.

Sakae used the term in an announcement on May 20 that sought to clarify a report in The Business Times related to concerns raised by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, about accounting errors and internal control weaknesses at the company.

Sakae had engaged KPMG to conduct an independent audit of its soured investment in a Chilean seafood company called Cocosa Export; and Deloitte & Touche to look into the reconciliation of intragroup differences totalling S$1.54 million identified in its auditor's report for the financial year to June 30, 2019.