Radiant World lays off staff as lenders back away, sources say
Workers are seen on the top of an iron ore pile as a machine works on blending the iron ore, at Dalian Port, Liaoning province, China on Sept 21, 2018.
PHOTO: Reuters
SINGAPORE/LONDON — Iron ore trader Radiant World has laid off some operations staff as banks and counterparties retreat, cutting off the credit the Singapore-based firm needs to fund its trades, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Earlier this month, a handful of back-office staff were laid off at Radiant's Dubai operation, the sources said, as the ramifications from a string of negative headlines around invoicing and document improprieties on its iron ore trades undermined the firm's ability to trade.
They did not know the exact number of layoffs.
Radiant has previously described those claims of wrongdoing as "inaccurate and unsubstantiated".
The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Radiant employs more than 100 people, according to its website, via offices in Singapore, Dubai, Shanghai, London, Geneva, Connecticut and Mumbai.
A spokesperson for Radiant declined to comment on the job cuts.
Amid the scrutiny, the Singapore Police Force said on Thursday (Aug 20) it had received reports about the company and was looking into the allegations.
Deutsche Bank and KBC Group NV have frozen some of Radiant's Singapore bank accounts, while some other lenders have suspended credit lines, Bloomberg News reported earlier in August.
Deutsche Bank and KBC Group declined to comment at the time.
Commodities broker Marex Group has frozen all Radiant World's accounts following the allegations, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. Marex also declined to comment.
To raise cash, Radiant World has sold a large chunk of its aluminium inventory to STG, a trading company funded by principals of the US hedge fund Squarepoint, Reuters reported last week.
Squarepoint declined to comment.
Radiant was founded by Pinkesh Nahar in the early 2000s, according to its website, which says the firm trades more than 80 million metric tonnes of iron ore annually.
That would be worth more than US$7.5 billion (S$9.5 billion) at current SGX prices.
That compares to 60 million to 70 million tonnes of iron ore traded annually at Cargill and the 95 million tonnes traded by Glencore's marketing division last year.
Radiant World's Head of Refined Metals Adhitya Sethaputra left the company, less than two years after joining, Reuters reported last month.
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