Three Arrows Capital Reprimanded for Deception and Exceeding AUM Threshold

Besieged cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, also known as 3AC, received a reprimand from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today. The reason is because 3AC gave misleading/false information and exceeded the assets under management (AUM) level authorized by the regulator.

According to the Singapore authorities, 3AC delegated the administration of its fund to an unrelated offshore firm after establishing a unit in the British Virgin Islands, where it is alleged that 3AC is based.

However, in the reprimand issued today, the regulator now says that this assertion is false. This is due to the fact that Su Zhu, one of the fund’s founders, was also a shareholder in the BVI-based firm.

Three Arrows Capital informed the MAS in April of its intentions to halt fund management operations in Singapore, effective from May 6. 3AC did so irrespective of the fact that it had resumed administration of a part of the fund’s assets in February 2022.

According to the financial regulator, the reprimand is for related contraventions that were committed by Three Arrows Capital before its notice to MAS in April 2022. Since June 2021, MAS has been conducting an investigation into alleged violations of policy.

The news of MAS’ action on 3AC comes only a few days after a judge in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) ordered the liquidation of 3AC. The court gave the responsibility of handling the liquidation to the financial advice company Teneo. Teneo’s primary responsibility as a liquidation handler is to safeguard the assets of 3AC and get an understanding of the organization’s creditors.