MAS, CAD to probe firms under CoAssets Group

Amongst the group's companies, only CA Funding is regulated by MAS.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Police Force’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) have launched a joint investigation of various firms under the CoAssets Group for possible offences under the Penal Code and the Securities and Futures Act.

This was prompted by complaints and feedback regarding suspected misconduct by the group. Of the CoAssets Group companies, only CA Funding (CAFPL) is regulated as a capital markets services licensee. In March 2020, it was ordered to stop listing new issuances, onboarding new investors and accepting subscription of securities.

This was issued after lapses were discovered in CAFPL’s credit assessment process, including inadequate information disclosure and failure to address conflicts of interests from dealings that the CoAssets Group had with entities related to issuers that CAFPL had listed on its platform.

MAS also directed CAFPL to appoint an independent external auditor to review the effectiveness of its remedial measures to address these deficiencies.

It was informed in December 2020 that it had failed to comply with the minimum base capital requirement under the SFA and intended to cease operations.