SGX RegCo rejects YuuZoo's request to lift trading suspension

Singapore

THE Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has rejected YuuZoo Networks Group Corporation's request to have its trading suspension lifted because the company has not complied with the bourse regulator's directive.

SGX RegCo said on Friday that YuuZoo has not carried out what it is required to do as stated in the notice of compliance (NOC) issued by the regulator on April 2, 2018.

The NOC pertains to the release of the findings of Ernst & Young Advisory on the social commerce player's revenue recognition from franchise sales. The regulator has required a review of the veracity of certain receivables of YuuZoo as well.

The Commercial Affairs Department's investigations against YuuZoo for possible breaches of the Securities and Futures Act are ongoing too, the bourse regulator said in response to YuuZoo's second request to have its trading suspension lifted.

SGX RegCo said: "Pending the compliance with the NOC by the company and clarity on these matters, existing shareholders and potential investors are not able to trade in the shares of the company on an informed basis. On this basis, the trading suspension will continue."

Trading in the company's shares has been suspended since March 19 last year after YuuZoo missed a disclosure deadline tied to regulatory queries over its full-year results for the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2017.

The SGX RegCo had said then that the suspension will be lifted when it is satisfied that "the state of affairs of the company can be ascertained and the shares ... can be traded on a fair, orderly and transparent basis".

YuuZoo said in a statement on Thursday that keeping the suspension in place was "unjustified and deeply damaging" to its shareholders. The statement did not state when the company made its first request to the regulator.

YuuZoo added that it had "provided the market all the information RegCo had asked for, and shareholders can trade on a fair, orderly and transparent basis".

In March this year, the company closed its Singapore-based subsidiaries and terminated all its Singapore-based employees, a move it said was a direct consequence of its trading suspension. YuuZoo has blamed the share suspension, police investigation and other issues for its woes.