Singapura Finance divests stake in digital bank licence applicant after bid fails
SINGAPURA Finance disposed of its stake in MatchMove PowerBank(S) following its unsuccessful attempt to obtain a digital bank licence in Singapore, the mainboard-listed lender said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
The lender said it sold the stakes it has in MatchMove PowerBank - about 10 per cent on a fully-diluted basis - on Monday to MatchMove Pay in exchange for a further 0.3 per cent stake in MatchMove Pay from a stake of 1.6 per cent.
MatchMove PowerBank was incorporated by MatchMove in June 2020 to apply for digital bank licences in Singapore and other Asean nations.
But it was unsuccessful in its application for the two digital full bank licences awarded in Singapore. NYSE-listed Sea Group and the joint venture between Singtel and Grab were awarded the licences.
MatchMove PowerBank is, however, keen to apply for digital bank licences in other Asean nations.
Singapura Finance, being a lender focused on the Singapore market and with its interest exclusively in backing a Singapore digital bank, does not share the same interest, though. Thus, it divested its stake in MatchMove PowerBank.
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
But it said it has confidence in the business potential of MatchMove, whose principal activities are the development and provision of end-to-end banking-as-a-solution services.
The counter closed unchanged at 81 Singapore cents on Monday before this announcement.
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Banking & Finance
ABN Amro in talks over French life insurance deal with BNP
China expected to stand pat on lending rates in May
Crypto boom, erratic rain spark outages in Laos, Asia’s clean power export hub
Bank of Japan in no rush to sell risky asset holdings
China’s first special bond sale likely to see solid demand
HSBC brings out tax tools for UK businesses ahead of new rules