(Sept 30): Radiant World is cutting staff beyond its core iron ore business after a Singapore court last week took control of the troubled commodity trader away from its founder.
The latest reductions include staff working in operations and execution for base metals, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Those functions had been relatively insulated from previous layoffs, which were heavily focused on its iron-ore unit.
Radiant’s base metals trading business, focused on refined copper and primary aluminium, operated largely independently from its iron ore division. A number of employees in the unit had remained at Radiant even as the company shed traders and operations staff elsewhere in recent months.
The iron ore business has been at the centre of allegations that Radiant provided falsified documents to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in financing. The company has denied wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for Radiant World wasn’t immediately able to comment on the latest job cuts.
Radiant has been under mounting pressure since Bloomberg reported in late July that top commodity traders including Glencore plc had moved to cut ties with the company amid concerns it had provided falsified records of iron-ore trades to lenders. Radiant has denied wrongdoing and said it conducts its business to the highest commercial and legal standards.
A Singapore court appointed KPMG restructuring executives to take charge of the trader’s key operation unit in the country on Sept 24, wresting control away from founder Pinkesh Nahar at the request of creditor Mizuho Bank Ltd.
Mizuho sought judicial management after suing Radiant over US$97.3 million (RM396.69 million) in receivables purportedly arising from iron ore sales to Glencore International AG. The bank said in a court filing that it had strong reasons to believe it was the victim of fraud perpetrated by Radiant.
A fund run by Jefferies Financial Group Inc has separately won a freezing injunction in Singapore against Radiant World and Nahar, Bloomberg reported last month. A hearing was held on Wednesday.
A separate hearing on the Mizuho case will be held on Thursday.
The latest job cuts follow at least two earlier rounds since the summer. Radiant had already lost almost half its iron ore traders in China and Singapore, while there had also been departures from its London and Geneva offices, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
The company had also more than halved its iron-ore operations staff in China, while traders in London and Geneva had largely closed out their positions and ceased trading, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg at the time.
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