Financial Technologies sells Singapore arm for $150 m

Financial Technologies Singapore Pte Ltd (FTSPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL), has sold its 100 per cent equity stake in SMX to ICE Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd for $150 million.

ICE Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd is an entity owned by the Intercontinental Exchange Group, Inc.

The board of directors of FTIL and FTSPL on Monday approved the sale transaction with the signing of definitive agreements, FTIL stated in a filing with the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, it added.

The sale comes in the backdrop of FTIL group company National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) getting embroiled in a Rs5,500-crore payment crisis. However, FTIL is reported to have told CNBC-TV18 that the money from SMX stake sale will not be used to repay NSEL investors.

The amounts will primarily be utilised for repayment of outstanding debt towards external commercial borrowings (ECB) and foreign currency loan (FCL) to banks, FTIL said.

"The company will become debt-free post Singapore bourse stake sale," FTIL said in its filing with the NSE.

FTIL and its group companies have, meanwhile, been allowed to cross-examine Grant Thornton, which had reported diversion of margin money of clients and investors to finance its own business.

Commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has allowed Financial Technologies and top officials of the group's bourse Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) to cross-examine auditor Grant Thornton before issuing the final order on whether they are 'fit' to run the listed exchange.

FMC had earlier issued show-cause notices questioning 'fit and proper' status to FTIL, its founder Jignesh Shah, MCX MD and CEO Shreekant Javalgekar and MCX Stock Exchange MD and CEO Joseph Massey to be part of commodity bourse MCX.