SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Less than one-fifth of "Old Noble" shareholders who initially registered with apointee trustee, Lucid Issuer Services, have completed all the steps required to get their shares in the new unlisted entity, Noble Group Holdings (Noble Holdings or New Noble), the company announced in a regulatory filing on Tuesday (Dec 17).
As at Nov 29, over 15,000 Old Noble shareholders have registered via the initial registration website www.lucid-is.com/nghlregistration. Of these, only 2,000 have fulfilled all the necessary requirements to complete the share transfer process.
That said, over 75 per cent of New Noble shares that the Old Noble shareholders are entitled to have been successfully allocated, and are now in the online share portal operated by Fluyd, a sister company of Lucid.
In the exchange filing, Noble Holdings also explained that Lucid and Fluyd are involved in the allocation process as the shares of New Noble are not listed on the Singapore Exchange, and could not be distributed to entitled shareholders via The Central Depository (CDP).
Therefore, the shares of New Noble were issued to Lucid as a holding trustee, to allow time for Fluyd to establish an online share account portal designed to mirror as many of the functions of CDP as possible, the company said.
To avoid the risk of fraud, or delivery to the wrong people, Old Noble shareholders are required to provide identity and address documents. "These steps are obligatory and necessary to protect the interests of the entitled shareholders of Old Noble, and to comply with relevant international laws, rules and regulations," the company said.
In addition, shareholders of Old Noble will also be asked to provide their bank account details as part of the process to set up their online share account with Fluyd. This is to allow shareholders of New Noble to receive any future distributions, such as cash dividends. "Neither New Noble, nor Fluyd, will use these details to take any payments from shareholders," Noble Holdings added.
Just last week, the group announced that Old Noble shareholders are getting a three-month extenstion till March 19, 2020 to register with Lucid and get their shares in New Noble.
Shares of Noble Group have been suspended since November last year.
