Singapore-based Sleek has been granted a major payment institution (MPI) licence issued by MAS. Separately, a party impersonating Vickers Venture Partners has been advertising a new “Vickers Venture AI Trading platform”, the VC firm warned.
Sleek obtains major payment institution licence
Singapore-based corporate services company Sleek has been granted a major payment institution (MPI) licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), effective from July 1.
The licence will allow Sleek to expand the suite of services under its business account — cross-border transfers, account issuance and e-money issuance — to an even wider group of SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) clients.
The Sleek Business Account is part of a wide range of services the company offers to simplify the management of back-office admin tasks, especially for entrepreneurs.
These services include company incorporation, accounting, taxation, corporate secretarial services and CFO-as-a-Service. More recently the company expanded its offerings to include business account and debt card issuance as well as local and cross-border payments and collections.
Last December, Sleek announced that it had raised $25 million in an extended Series A funding round following participation from the EDBI – the venture arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB).
This followed the $14 million it had raised in its initial Series A funding round led by Jungle Ventures and White Star Capital.
Established in 2017, Sleek helps small and medium business owners incorporate and operate businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong and more recently, Australia.
Other Singapore-based institutions that were awarded the MAS’ MPI license this year include cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut and digital account and mobile app Hugosave.
Vickers Venture Partners warns against scammer
A party impersonating Vickers Venture Partners has been advertising its supposedly new “Vickers Venture AI Trading platform”. It has also gone on to create websites, Telegram channels and a YouTube account to convince the public to open a trading account.
In a statement issued on July 6, Vickers Venture Partners stated that it was aware of the matter and that it has not created such a platform or provided investment services to the public.
“Vickers manages venture capital investments which are only made available to accredited investors through our 6 funds and co-investment vehicles,” said the company. “Investors should be aware that if they open an account with this trading platform, they are not investing in any vehicles managed by Vickers,” it elaborated, adding that the firm does not have an active YouTube account or Telegram channel.
A police report has been lodged on this incident.
Vickers Venture Partners has backed companies like the Asian Food Channel, MatchMove and TWG.