Daily Briefing: 75% of Noble creditors commit to restructuring deal; Why MAS has no key rate

And here is a Singaporean venture capitalist's investment in an Irish "agtech" firm.

From Deal Street Asia:

Despite criticism and disapproval from Richard Elman, Noble Group said that more than 75% of creditors holding the majority of its senior debt have already accepted its US$3.4b restructuring plan.

"'The company continues to engage in discussions with shareholders and the SGX on the restructuring,' said the Hong Kong-based firm. Noble, which received more than 70% approval for its plan earlier this week, had said earlier that it would have to begin insolvency proceedings if the debt restructuring was not approved.

Last week, Singapore Exchange’s regulatory arm had asked Noble’s senior creditors to assess the beleaguered commodity trader’s restructuring plans to “ensure parity in the treatment of all shareholders”.

Read more here.

From Bloomberg Markets:

Bloomberg explains why the tighter policy in Singapore does not equate to higher borrowing costs, unlike most countries, due to its use of the exchange rate (not the interest rate) in its policy review.

"Because Singapore is a small (population 5.6 million) open economy that’s heavily dependent on trade. The currency affects inflation more sharply than in other countries, so targeting the exchange rate rather than interest rates is more effective for achieving price stability -- the central bank’s main goal.

Added to that, the exchange rate is relatively easy to control through direct market interventions (ie the central bank buying and selling the Singapore dollar) and has a steady, predictable relationship with price stability.

The Singapore dollar is managed against an undisclosed basket of currencies of the nation’s major trading partners. (Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. estimates the most heavily weighted are the U.S. dollar, ringgit, yuan, euro and yen.) But it’s not simply a case of picking a number to target."

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based venture capital firm Sirius Venture Capital is participating in a Series A funding round of Irish agtech firm MicroGen Biotech, a top executive Deal Street Asia.

"Sirius Venture Capital founder and managing director Eugene Wong said that Sirius is investing in MicroGen Biotech, which claims to have invented microbes that can restore polluted farmlands, although the amount of investment is still being discussed.

In January, Sirius Venture invested US$150,000 in the seed funding round of MicroGen, becoming the only Asian fund that participated in the said fundraising. For the Series A, MicroGen Biotech is also talking to Chinese investors to raise about $2m, Wong said."

Read more here.