SEC seeks confirmation from Zipmex Thailand on payment default by investor in bailout
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has told embattled Zipmex Thailand to clarify reports that a key investor in its bailout plan has failed to pay as scheduled.
The SEC said on Monday that it had sent a notice to Zipmex Thailand on Friday after reports by several news agencies and online media on the day that a key investor had not paid for purchase of shares as promised.
The reports said failure to obtain the money from the key investor would force Zipmex Thailand to downsize its business or even halt its digital asset trading service.
The SEC said it had demanded a written explanation from Zipmex Thailand by Wednesday and it should send the explanation to its clients as well.
The SEC said Zipmex Thailand was asked to confirm the veracity of the reports and how the company and its clients would be affected.
It was reported on Friday that Zipmex Thailand was cutting a deal with V Venture of Chalermchai Mahagitsiri for a takeover deal worth US$100 million (around 3.4 billion baht).
It was reported that V Venture would pay for the buyout in three instalments but it failed to pay as scheduled.
On Monday, Zipmex Thailand CEO Akalarp Yimwilai insisted that his company has no plan to shut down its business.
Akalarp said the services and products of Zipmex Thailand are still operating normally, except the Z Wallet, which he has repeatedly said is a product of Singapore-based Zipmex Global, a key partner of Zipmex Thailand.
Akalarp said he and his management were trying to allow Zipmex Thailand’s clients to resume trading of the Z Wallet product in full service as soon as possible.
On July 20, Zipmex Thailand suspended trading on its platform to disable ZipUp+ from the platform.
Akalarp Yimwilai later issued an announcement on Facebook Live that ZipUp+ was a product of Zipmex Global. He said Zipmex Global had deposited coins in ZipUp+ with two crypto lenders, Babel Finance and Celsius, who suffered a liquidity crunch and could not return the digital assets. Celsius has gone bankrupt.
Zipmex Thailand said it would sue Babel Finance for the return of its customers’ digital assets.
Akalarp admitted that the key investor in the bailout has not paid as scheduled.
“My management and I are not complacent. We are in the process of talking to the investor to make the payment. The top priority is to negotiate with the investor to tackle the issue. I can’t give more details now,” Akalarp said.
He added that Zipmex Group is scheduled to hear the order of a Singapore court on the group’s rehabilitation plan. Once the court issues an order, Zipmex would reveal the timeline of the rehabilitation plan to its clients, Akalarp said.
“The management and I will do all we can so that the rehabilitation plan will get done as soon as possible. I understand that the news may cause panic among all stakeholders about the situation of the company,” Akalarp said.
