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No pressure there, then, Cathal !
Nicely in time for CF's return to his alma mater, Ulster Uni, on the 31st....

;->

May have spoken too soon.

This website https://www.southporttradefinance.com/en-gb brings up the TradeFlow Capital Management logo, with the S'pore address shown elsewhere and a Fairfield, Connecticut address.

This very similar website https://www.southporttradefinance.com/ ie missing the /en-gb, brings up a different company, with the same imagery and text, a different Fairfield Connecticut address and a US Virgin Islands address.

Wonder how far SYME's got in its DD.

If it IS an RTO and TradeFlow end up in the driving seat, then - on the basis of what little I've seen of them - I'd likely be a buyer of shares in the new entity.
Happy now ?

.."And you don't think the FCA would have ensured this incredibly sensitive information would have been presented to the market via an RNS?.."

The FCA is hardly likely to publicize a deadline for performance because that would prejudice any negotiations.

We are looking at a company with an unproven business model looking to buy a company with (apparently) a proven business model.
It's looking to do so at very short notice.
The target company was happily recruiting as recently as a month ago (where's our Oct CFO hire, btw ?)
The 1 year anniversary of the RTO is next week.

Absent any hard info from SYME, we are free to speculate.
This speculation on my part is outlandish but - on the limited facts - hardly outrageous.

HTH

I've never said that SYME is a fraud, there are a lot of legitimate questions that remain unanswered.
We don't know what SYME's planning to buy of the TradeFlow 'group', so speculation on purchase price is somewhat academic.
So too is how SYME would pay for it.
Since it is SYME shareholders who are paying; this is the SYME board; and we have access to and (cough !)info on SYME's financial performance, it seems fair to start there ie here.

HTH

.."The funding is the easy part..."
The funding is SYME's Achilles heel and has been from the get-go.
That's why everyone's waiting for first transaction close.

OTOH, I wonder whether this move (TradeFlow was hiring new staff as recently as last month), was driven by this ?

.."Where an existing listed stock market company has become a cash shell, most stock exchanges require that the shell re-invest its cash into a business within a certain period of time or face the threat of de-listing. "
http://www.hbcg.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Holland-Bendelow-2015-cash-shell-guide.pdf

If the FCA decided that the SYME RTO - on the basis of 'business actually concluded' didn't constitute an operating business (going concern qualification), then that might explain what's going on.

Seems far-fetched... but the TradeFlow news seems to have come completely out of left field...and be moving to 'close' with a speed that SYME has never displayed up to now.

An RTO of an RTO ?

(1) Bloomberg describes the news as ..""Supply@ME Fintech platform to buy Singapore Hedge fund, Trade-flow" ..
in SYME-speak, is it buying the platform ? the originator ? the 'captive bank' ? the SPC ?
Can SYME 'own' a hedge fund ? The proposed 'captive bank' acquisition is structured as 'arm's length'.

(2) Whatever it's buying, how will it pay for it ?
Will it
(a) do a placing and issue billions more shares ?
(b) avoid dilution by paying cash ? What cash ? Take on a large bank loan ? Who would lend to SYME on the basis of its financials ?
(c) another RTO ? If SYME can't do (a) or (b) and it's Tradeflow that has financial credibility (as seems to be the case), maybe IT reverses into SYME , with ITS paper......which would likely wipe out existing SYME shareholders.

As Lenin said, most questions in life come down to 'Who ? Whom?'
'It's a mystery'

Let's see how Sunday's elections in C-B go - I'd imagine people will be hesitant (at all levels) until there's clarity :

.."." Denis Sassou Nguesso has been president of the Republic of Congo for almost 37 of the past 42 years. On a continent where many strongmen have clung to power for far longer than they should have, he holds the dubious distinction of being Africa’s third-longest serving leader (behind only his neighbours Paul Biya of Cameroon and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea). On Sunday the Congolese will vote in a sham presidential election that Mr Sassou Nguesso will no doubt win again. During his decades in office he has both removed the 70-year age limit for presidents (he is now 77) and changed the constitution to enable himself to stand in every election until he dies.
Disturbing reports suggest that 100 tonnes of new weaponry was recently shipped to the country from Azerbaijan, in case of post-election riots.
The president seems keen to send a message that anyone thinking of protesting against the inevitable result should think again...."

ATB

.."Wonder if the Chinese are awaiting the result?.."

I think a lot of people are !

.." Denis Sassou Nguesso has been president of the Republic of Congo for almost 37 of the past 42 years. On a continent where many strongmen have clung to power for far longer than they should have, he holds the dubious distinction of being Africa’s third-longest serving leader (behind only his neighbours Paul Biya of Cameroon and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea). On Sunday the Congolese will vote in a sham presidential election that Mr Sassou Nguesso will no doubt win again. During his decades in office he has both removed the 70-year age limit for presidents (he is now 77) and changed the constitution to enable himself to stand in every election until he dies.
Disturbing reports suggest that 100 tonnes of new weaponry was recently shipped to the country from Azerbaijan, in case of post-election riots.
The president seems keen to send a message that anyone thinking of protesting against the inevitable result should think again...."

Good news for shareholders - and well done !

TradeFlow 'group' appears to be further down the road than SYME, technically, operationally and commercially, successfully focussing on deals in a sector (commodities - including perishables) that SYME initially said it would avoid.

The 'in transit' feature implicit in cross-border solves the challenges of 'true sale' and 'static inventory' present in SYME's present model, it'll be interesting to see how it adapts going forward.

As recently as last month TradeFlow has been hiring - another' heavy hitter'
hxxps://www.gtreview.com/news/on-the-move/tradeflow-capital-management-hires-digital-strategy-director/

.."Lopez’s previous role was managing director of Gobankme Technologies, a Singapore fintech company that focuses on prepaid cards, where he worked until the end of last year. Before that, he worked at FlexFunds, a firm that launches exchange traded products, as regional managing director for Asia for nearly three years. Lopez has also held various roles at BBVA during a 13-year stint at the bank, most recently serving as its head of corporate clients for Southeast Asia.
He will focus on reinforcing TradeFlow’s digital transaction and risk transformation architecture, while also creating a new digital platform for investing in the trade of commodities..."

It's not clear what SYME brings to the party - and the devil may be in the detail : what exactly acquired and how paid for - but it'll be fascinating to find out.

ATB

.."Coal is increasingly obselete. If i was a developing country, i would not be investing in an antiquated coal power station.."

(1) the Chinese themselves don't think so, they're still investing in new stations and coal is still expected to be 1/4 of China's (presumably larger) energy mix by 2050.
(2) Developing countries don't have the luxury that we take for granted : any electricity is better than none. Perhaps they should 'take one for the team' on saving the planet and forgo any chance of a better life.
(3) Don't let 'perfect' be the enemy of 'good' (Voltaire)

PS NCCL is developing a 'solar alternative', which people who can afford it can of course choose. The operative word being 'choose'.

IMO

For an example of the benefits of data-mining, there's coincidentally an article in today's Spectator about Tim Spector at ZOE, https://joinzoe.com/about-zoe

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-long-covid-time-bomb-an-interview-with-tim-spector

His Covid interest is an opportunistic 'lockdown' driven spin-off of his main field of research , gut microbiomes.

According to the article, it was his CovidSymptomStudy app that first identified anosmia (loss of sense of smell) as a possible symptom of covid and first reported the phenomenon now called 'long Covid'.

All driven by 4.5 million users who log in and report symptoms (if any) on a daily basis.

Interest to declare : 'Covid toes' - which I'd never heard of until today- explains those mysterious unsightly blemishes I've had for a couple of weeks that my brother jokingly referred to as 'chilblains'.

ATB

Hi atg,

Thanks for this !

It certainly gives a benchmark for Zanaga -esp if you think that a number of factors are in our favour : less 'complicated' sellers, better access to market (distance/terrain/deep-water port), more synergies, PN strategic location, etc.

The Steinmetz story itself was a great read - certainly a colourful character. Soros is named as the villain of the piece (per BS), this guy doesn't get a mention
http://www.thisissierraleone.com/tony-blair-expands-his-african-empire-into-mineral-rich-guinea/

If you've the time, the inclination and the stomach (at the venality on display), this gives a flavour of some of the business practices in Africa, tacitly approved by the UK regulators
http://www.raid-uk.org/sites/default/files/oz_bribery_in_its_purest_form_full_report_rev.pdf

'Behind every great fortune lies a great crime'
Honore de Balzac

ATB

As a bench-mark, Google / Fitbit's 'HealthCoaching' service charges $ 55 pm , per your link, You'd think a dedicated 'health biomarkers' bolt-on for an extra $10-20 pm would be of interest ?

In the absence of hard info, I'm doing what everyone else here does, which is speculate and/or offer an opinion.
HTH

(1).."Looks like the acquisition could be TradeFlow hTTps://dlt.sg/dltledgers-and...

A side-by-side comparison of the two websites suggests not :
- bullet-point promotional video;
- 'approachable 'chat-bot;
- relevant newsfeed;
- detailed dropdown menus according to area of interest;
- detailed descriptions of a high number of relevant experienced professionals;
- details of transaction volumes and named counterparties, etc, etc.

I can see why SYME might want to buy their skills, but what would it bring to the party...and/or how could it afford to buy it ?

Doesn't seem likely, on the face of it.

(2) OTOH, SYME's interest in the 'inventory in transit' model looks like a subtle change of direction , no coincidence I think that 'trade finance' guru Tony Brown is 'point man' on this.

SYME's version of inventory finance is a novel concept, which is why it's potentially so interesting, but it seems to be proving too 'innovative' to gain traction.

The 'true' sale concept seems to be proving a hard sell, from an accounting and security point of view , perhaps simply because of a 'gut ' reaction on observing the obvious fact that the underlying goods don't actually move.

By definition, this isn't a problem with 'inventory in transit' , moving goods physically across borders, because the questions/conventions/mechanisms of ownership transfer, accounting and funds flow have all been refined over centuries of experience.

The 'supply chain' is typically (1) exporter, (2) exporter's bank (3) port of shipment (4) port of delivery (5) importer's bank and (6) importer.

Traditionally, this involved copious amounts of paperwork : bills of lading, invoices , packing lists, certificates of origin, export permits, phytosanitary or chemical/physical assay certificates, insurance policies etc, in multiple originals an/or certified copies.

I can see how blockchain use could provide greater transparency, simplicity, speed and security, replacing a lot of the above digitally, maybe even scaling back the hitherto crucial role of the 2 x banks in the process. That would be truly revolutionary.

More likely, if there IS a role for SYME, I'd guess it's in the currently 'grey area between (3) and (4) - the actual 'in transit ' bit - where there's wiggle room about where exactly the transfer in one direction of ownership of the goods/in the other the payment undertaking takes place.

There are both actual (freight/insurance) costs and opportunity costs (capital tied up unproductively) that can be quantified.

These have historically been 'rolled up' in the sale or purchase price of the underlying goods, maybe technology makes it feasible (and economically worthwhile) to carve them out and treat them as a 'tradeable' asset class in their own right....?

"SYME : the gift that keeps on giving"

Very interesting to see what actually emerges !

Thanks for this !

Coronavirus has exposed the potential risks posed by 'over-globalisation' ie dependency risk on a few key players (eg microchips from Taiwan ) and short-term (?) resource nationalism in the medical sector , see
https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-eu-limit-exports-medical-equipment/

UK may have 'first mover' advantage in CHIMs, but other countries (with pharma industries of their own to protect) won't necessarily want to be beholden to us forever....and certainly not if we go for short-term gain. Our best chance of staying ahead (apart from innovation)is probably in doing business on terms that make it not worth other countries' while .

But then - here and there - politics will probably trump economics !

;-<

ATB

Rocky500 : that’s my understanding - some DD to 31 Dec announced (maybe audited ?) by April, then monetisation revenue to 30 Jun, announced maybe Aug / Sept.

SYME isn't Greensill, but it IS in supply chain finance sector, so - however unfairly - might be tarred by some with the same brush.
That's the unfortunate reality.
Here's a good, balanced article that describes the issues facing Greensill's customers and funders, worth reading to understand some of the issues :

https://www.gtreview.com/news/global/scf-market-hopes-to-avoid-contagion-risk-as-greensill-empire-collapses/

.."“The vast majority of funding is provided by banks and the market remains resilient ensuring deep and continuing liquidity.”

The forum adds that it believes the market “will remain fundamentally sound” and urges regulators and standards bodies to “take note of the consistent behaviour of the instruments and structures that follow GSCFF market practices”.

Tod Burwell, president and chief executive of the Bankers’ Association for Finance and Trade (Baft), tells GTR: “As with any disruption, I’m sure there will be closer inspection of the structure and nature of existing deals outstanding and new deals contemplated going forward, as is prudent..."

The use of/need for credit enhancement is seen as an issue :

.."After Credit Suisse froze funds that were providing more than US$10bn to Greensill, suggestions emerged that the company had been selling notes containing lower-quality but higher-yield debts as investment products, with the underlying risk covered by trade credit insurance.

“This is where the subprime mortgage crisis analogy comes in,” one source suggests. “By adding credit risk insurance, they were trying to give a better yield on a sub-investment grade product.”

Steven van der Hooft, founder and chief executive of SCF consultancy Capital Chains, says he does not expect financial institutions to withdraw funding in situations where they have a direct relationship with a corporate or its suppliers.

“But where you have an investor that doesn’t have a relationship with the corporate, and is investing in a fund run by – in this case – Greensill, they are quite detached from the physical trade,” he tells GTR.

“They’re just looking for yield. Those kinds of investors are more likely to pull their funding lines, afraid they might be investing in a similar scheme.”

This is the challenge of disintermediation.

HTH

Great ! Thanks, marcusg71.