KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): UBB Amanah Bhd has said that there would be delays in its trust income and maturity payments for October, due to "temporary liquidity constraints arising from delayed repayments by certain investee companies".
In a memorandum dated Oct 14 sighted by The Edge, the company said trust income for Oct 15 would be disbursed up to one month late by Nov 15, while payments due on Oct 30 would be made by Nov 30.
For trust maturing on Oct 15 and Oct 30, the company set a release period of up to 90 days from the respective maturity dates. Compensation would be calculated at 8% per annum on a daily-rest basis from the date of maturity, according to the memorandum.
UBB Amanah did not respond to requests for comment.
In the memorandum, the cash trust company did not provide details on the investee companies that have delayed their repayments.
"UBB is actively pursuing the recovery of outstanding amounts from investee companies and exploring alternative funding arrangements to improve its liquidity position," said the cash trust company, which provides custody and trustee services to the Malaysian public, including high-net-worth clients.
It added that certain temporary measures have been implemented to facilitate the administration of trust assets.
The company also sought to reassure agents that trust assets remained intact and secure, and that clients’ entitlements would not be compromised.
In an interview with The Edge in March, UBB managing director and CEO Aida Aizura Othman said all trust income and maturity proceeds had been paid to clients in full and on time, amid scrutiny over the company’s cash trust schemes.
At the time, Aida described earlier internal memoranda concerning payment arrangements as “routine administrative notices” rather than evidence of financial strain.
Her response follows a series of internal memoranda circulated to the company’s agents earlier this year that could raise concerns about payment delays within UBB Amanah’s cash trust products.
In August, UBB Amanah's Labuan-licensed investment bank UBB Investment Bank had to fork out a RM10 million compound to Bank Negara Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority for failing to report suspicious transactions and perform adequate customer due diligence between 2023 and 2024.
According to a company search on the website of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) at the time, UBB Amanah had six registered shareholders, namely Fintech Sigma Technologies LLC (20%), VASN International Pte Ltd (10%), M5 Capital Venture Sdn Bhd (20%), Prinamic Sdn Bhd (20%), Great Sovereign Sdn Bhd (20%) and Neo Pixel Sdn Bhd (10%).