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A recent move by the Syrian government to seize the assets of 35 accused smugglers has raised questions about President Bashar al-Assad’s intentions and regional strategy. Beyond the unusually high number of people targeted simultaneously, the profiles and affiliations of those under scrutiny are turning heads in Damascus and beyond.
The seizure made headlines when a leaked list of suspects surfaced this month. In addition to Mudallal Omar al-Aziz, a member of parliament, the dragnet included several militia commanders with extensive connections to the Assad regime and its ally Iran.
Among them are Firas al-Jaham, also known as Firas al-Iraqi, commander of the National Defense militia, and Hassan al-Ghadban, a notable leader in the Fourth Armored Division, which is led by Maher al-Assad, the brother of the Syrian president.
On the surface, the seizures appear to be a resolute stance against illicit financial activities.
The leaked document states that the individuals were targeted because of their involvement in smuggling goods worth a staggering 16.6 billion Syrian pounds (about US$2 million). The potential fines could top 100 billion pounds, underscoring the severity.
But scratch the surface and an ulterior motive for the seizures emerges. In addition to securing regional political gains, President Assad’s move seems to be part of a larger strategy aimed at extracting money from cronies who have neglected their financial obligations.
The timing of the asset seizures strongly suggests a desire by the regime to bolster its political position in the region, specifically with Iraq. All 35 of those targeted are from Deir Ezzor, a governorate on the Syria-Iraq border that is known as a prominent hub for trafficking activities, particularly in narcotics.
Coming shortly before a visit to Iraq by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, the moves were part of the government’s proactive measures to address border security and drug trafficking.
Taking a strong stance on these issues is important for Assad’s relationship with Iraq, but also in meeting the regional requirements to reintegrate Syria into the Arab community.
After a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Amman in May, Syria agreed to collaborate with Iraq in combating the drug trade.
But achieving geopolitical gains isn’t Assad’s only motivation. Since 2019, his regime has been extorting loyalist businessmen and war profiteers to pay its bills.
While Assad’s main supporters, Iran and Russia, were instrumental in helping the government prevail in the war, neither country has stepped in with enough financial support to help Syria emerge from its current economic crisis. As a result, the government has resorted to unconventional short-term tactics to keep its economy afloat.
Many of Syria’s business elites, particularly those who continued to operate during the conflict, have accumulated their wealth, directly or indirectly, through their connections to the government. With the war in essence won, Assad feels emboldened to call on them to help fund Syria’s recovery. Those who comply can continue their business activities as normal.
Those who refuse or fail to comply, however, face repercussions. They are either subjected to verbal threats or face punitive measures such as asset freezes on charges of tax evasion or corruption.
Prominent figures who have experienced shakedowns include Rami Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin, and Mohammad Hamsho and Wassim al-Qattan. But these extortion tactics have extended beyond high-profile individuals to include business owners and war profiteers at all levels.
In cases of alleged criminal activity, the government’s lack of interest in enforcing the rule of law is evidenced by its approach: Instead of facing the threat of imprisonment, those accused are merely required to pay fines. After targeted individuals fall in line, they typically return to operating as usual.
The most recent case is no exception. Most of the 35 people named in the leaked document have smuggled goods, oil and drugs between Syria and Iraq for years, and will likely continue doing so now.
The government doesn’t even seem worried about cutting off defendants’ access to wealth. Despite the widespread practice of using family members’ names to shield assets, none of those accused have been targeted in this way, suggesting that the seizures were more of a message than a genuine effort to end their illicit activities.
The evolving dynamics in Syria and its re-emergence from the cold will test regional allies in new and complex ways. Policymakers engaging with Assad must guard against seemingly innocuous policies and probe beneath the surface to understand the true motives behind his government’s actions.
This article was provided by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.
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When the ambulance arrived at full speed at a Vientiane coffee shop on 29 April, first responders found what looked like a dead body.
It was 25-year-old democracy activist Anousa “Jack” Luangsuphom. Jack was shot twice, including once in the face, by a gunman just minutes before the medical staff arrived. Though the young activist’s friends said the shooter was known to them, an official investigation of the attack has, so far, produced no updates in nearly two months.
“I survived the attempted murder, and that day changed my life forever,” Jack wrote to Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder and executive director of the Bangkok-based rights group Manushya Foundation. “I will never give up my activism. We, Lao people, want democracy and freedom!”
A few weeks after this attack, on 17 May, Lao political activist Bounsuan Kitiyano, 56, took his last breaths near a forest in Ubon Ratchathani, northeastern Thailand.
Bounsuan was apparently shot three times while riding a motorbike. Villagers found his lifeless body and contacted the authorities, who have yet to establish firm leads as to who killed the activist and why.
Since the 1975 end of the Vietnam War – known in Laos as the American War – communist Laos has remained among the most repressive countries in the world, with strictly limited freedom of speech, press and religion.
While political and freedom repression against Lao activists is not new, these two recent cases of murder and attempted murder of political activists made the world gasp.
Some believe the Lao government is escalating a crackdown to silence dissidents ahead of its upcoming turn as the rotational ASEAN chair. Others simply weren’t surprised to see the continuation of a decades-long campaign of persecution of political criticism.
Lao activists such as Bounsuan have fled to Thailand for decades. But as the kingdom lacks a formal protection system for refugees – and its own people are often themselves fleeing as political dissidents – Lao exiles seeking haven on Thai soil often find an insecure, marginalised status.
“The political activism and the protection of Lao political activists in both Laos and Thailand is a sensitive issue,” said Thanachate Wisaijorn, head of the government department at the Faculty of Political Science at Ubon Ratchathani University. “It’s never brought up to the table in bilateral meetings.”
Today’s activism
While the countries’ authorities keep their grip on political narratives, Lao youths are starting to move the waters.
As the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Laos saw rapidly increasing inflation and a dramatic decrease in employment rates, all of which prompted citizens to share their concerns on the internet. Groups of youths created social media pages to allow their peers to openly share criticism of the Lao government, such as Jack’s popular Facebook page Empowered by a Keyboard.
These youth-led corners of the internet are a new generation of democracy supporters who are finding new ways to raise their voices. Through social media and the internet, these activists gather online under anonymous profiles to speak about economic, political and social issues.
Jack is part of this scene. But in his case, even speaking from behind a screen appears to have not been enough to spare him. The shooting has left others to fear not only for themselves but also for their families’ safety.
Pradichit from Manushya Foundation helped Jack’s evacuation of Laos in May after hospital staff left a bullet in his chest, allegedly hesitant to provide treatment once they realised who their patient was.
The foundation is now working with other human rights organisations and a team of lawyers to file a lawsuit against Vientiane’s Mittaphab Hospital for negligence in Jack’s case. According to their allegations, the Lao hospital failed to provide Jack with food since the police visit on 3 May. Pradichit says the chest tube installed the night of the shooting was never changed, causing severe infections and blood clots in Jack’s body.
“His medical conditions were really bad. The hospital in Laos would have let him die,” she said.
Jack is now fully conscious but unable to speak due to the permanent damage to his tongue caused by one of the bullets. He now communicates via text messages or written notes.
Although he wants to continue living in Laos and advocate for democracy, after his near-brush with death, rights groups helped extract him from the country to receive medical treatment. His current location is concealed for security reasons.
“Jack doesn’t want to be relocated,” said Pradichit, who is currently supporting Jack with legal and protection processes to ensure his safety. “He doesn’t understand why he had to start his life from scratch when he had done nothing wrong.”
Unlike Jack, most other outspoken Lao activists, including Bounsuan spent decades in exile. Many of them are recognised UN political refugees in the U.S., Germany, Australia and Canada, but Bounsuan decided to stay in neighbouring Thailand so he could join the former Free Laos group, a dissident organisation active among the 1980s diaspora that advocated for a return to monarchy over communism.
An unsafe past
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is one of only five remaining communist countries in the world along with China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. The government is ruled by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) in a closed, single-party system.
The modern state is the legacy of the Pathet Lao communist insurgency, which had fought through independence from the French protectorate, two decades of civil war and U.S. bombings during the Vietnam War – or American War.
This communist victory was followed by a period of great poverty, along with an exodus of thousands of people escaping retribution for siding with the U.S. and royalists during the war. They were the first generation of state dissidents. That was especially true for the Hmong ethnic group, which fought alongside the U.S. against communism and has since been regularly persecuted by the state and excluded from public employment.
Thai national archives recorded 120,000 registered Hmong people crossing from Laos in the early 1980s, but according to Thanachate, there were many more. The Thai government would support them for five years as political refugees, he explained, but their protection didn’t last long.
“We must be aware that the state relationship between Thailand and Laos was not good at that time,” Thanachate said. “That was until 2009, when Thailand facilitated the Hmong repatriation in Laos.”
For years, the Lao government mostly focused on persecuting Hmong as the state enemies, though that pressure eased with their safe repatriation. Meanwhile, a new generation of Lao political activists had been born – and were beginning a small pro-democracy movement.
Laos was about to see a new wave of political activism, with Jack being one of many young human rights defenders in the country. Attacks against political activists, however, continued incessantly throughout the decades.
Human rights violations continued
This year, Bounsuan’s death could be the latest of these brutal attacks. Human rights organisations have condemned the murder and called for the Lao government to run an independent and impartial investigation.
The most prominent case of politically motivated assault was the enforced disappearance of human rights defender Sombath Somphone, who was abducted from a police checkpoint in Vientiane in 2012.
More than a decade later, no one knows his whereabouts.
In the meantime, environmental activist Houayheuang “Muay” Xayabouly remains in prison after pleading guilty to state defamation for criticising the government on Facebook for corruption and its poor response to the 2019 flooding in Champasak and Salavan provinces. The whereabouts of Lao pro-democracy activist Od Sayavong, who disappeared in 2019 after returning to Laos from Thailand on a visa run, also remains unknown.
Chue Youa Vang was murdered in 2021 allegedly by the Lao authorities for his work on finding one of the four Hmong people who mysteriously disappeared in March 2020.
As of last year, the Lao government has reported only three political prisoners, who remain in detention for treason, anti-state propaganda and unauthorised protests.
Many more cases have gone unreported both in Laos and Thailand. Human rights groups within Laos are only allowed to operate under government oversight, which normally restricts their investigative power and has never welcomed international oversight in cases involving Lao activists.
In the shadow of silence, Lao democracy and human rights advocates continue to walk lightly.
Jack is now undergoing a series of life-saving surgeries. He is not yet out of danger, but as human rights groups are increasing pressure on the Lao government, his call for democracy continues to be clear.
Singapore-based digital securities exchange, ADDX, has appointed former Singapore Exchange (SGX) senior managing director, Sutat Chew, as chair.
Chew brings to the firm over 25 years of experience across financial services, including 14 years spent at the Singaporean bourse, where he led the global sales origination team and helped the business expand across 10 international locations. In terms of other prior experience, he has held senior roles at Standard Chartered, OCBC Securities and DBS.
The leadership appointment offers ADDX strategic direction as it looks to expand overseas. Specifically, Chew will be responsible for driving growth and innovation, the company release stated.
Speaking to FinanceAsia, Chew said that his priorities in coming on board involve cultivating strategic collaborations and partnerships so that ADDX is “poised to advance” its mission to democratise investment for wealth creation.
“We hope to meet the needs of customers in North Asia and the Middle East in the second half of this year through appropriate partnerships and joint ventures (JVs),” he said.
Operating on a private, permissioned blockchain that is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ADDX offers issuers access to a larger pool of capital than is available through traditional fundraising means.
The platform’s employment of sophisticated digital processing technology enables it to manage the issuance, custody and distribution of private market products at a lower administrative cost compared to traditional markets and thus, the firm is able to reduce the fundraising entry threshold, inviting a wider community of investors to participate in capital exchange.
Regulation and innovation
Reflecting on progress and innovation across Asia’s capital markets, Chew said that it is the development of new forms of market infrastructure to support the advancement of digital assets, that excites him the most.
“Initiatives such as Project Ubin, Project Orchid and Project Guardian aim to explore the potential of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in areas such as payments, settlements, digital identity, and cross-border transactions – which should enhance efficiency, transparency, and security in the financial sector,” he told FA.
He commended the efforts of Singapore’s market regulators in supporting the city-state’s development as a “world-class global financial hub with a highly competitive and diverse financial ecosystem.”
“Regulators here have been at the forefront of technology and innovation in the financial sector, balancing it with appropriate consideration for education and investor protection,” he explained.
“The progressive stance taken by the MAS in recognising that tokenised securities should be regulated in the same way as traditional securities, gives companies like ADDX clarity to invest and innovate for global clients who can trust the regime.”
Market uncertainty
However, Chew acknowledged that the uncertain market economic climate threatens the capital market advancement.
“One of the challenges to market innovation is reduced investor confidence and risk aversion as part of the uncertain market environment. As investors become more cautious and conservative, that may result in more gradual adoption of new ideas, technologies, and investment opportunities.”
“What we have done is adapt to evolving investor sentiment and risk appetite, communicate transparently, as well as actively educate and engage investors to address their concerns, provide reassurance and offer a suite of products that meet their needs.”
As an example, he shared that the platform had helped four issuers raise more than S$650 million via commercial papers to meet near-term investment needs.
“I believe that regulators and responsible startups or fintech players can continue to work together to keep pace with emerging technologies and financial innovation, whilst striking a balance with appropriate regulatory safeguards,” he added.
In addition to Chew, ADDX’s board comprises Oi-Yee Choo, who serves as CEO; and Inmoo Hwang, the firm’s COO.
Chew also serves as chair of ADDX’s listing committee, a position he has held since 2019; and he has been a board member of ICHX Tech – ADDX’s holding company – since 2018. MAS approved the operational transfer of ADDX from ICHX Tech in May 2022, and the platform began is regulated activities from September the same year.
ADDX’s shareholders include SGX, the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Temasek subsidiary, Heliconia Capital, the Development Bank of Japan, UOB and Hamilton Lane, among others. In April last year, it partnered with UOB to execute the largest foreign currency digital bond in Singapore to date; a sustainability-linked bond, issued by Singtel.
Read also: Temasek-backed venture debt fund tokenises on ADDX
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Former Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) senior director, Roger Cheng, is set to join UK-headquartered law firm, Linklaters, at its Hong Kong base from August.
The move follows his nearly five years of experience at the special administrative region’s (SAR) financial regulator, where Cheng oversaw the operations of the Takeovers Team. The law firm’s announcement pointed to the instrumental role that he played during this time, developing Hong Kong’s takeovers and mergers policy, as well as driving forward other listing-related progress.
Prior to his tenure with the SFC, Cheng spent 13 years at Slaughter and May.
Offering some thoughts around trends affecting dealmaking in Hong Kong and China, Betty Yap, Linklaters partner and global co-head of the firm’s Financial Sponsor Group shared that there had been a noticeable rebound of M&A activity in the region post-pandemic, though activity has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“Inbound investment into mainland China is still somewhat marred by geo-politics and recent regulatory changes,” she told FinanceAsia, adding that her team is optimistic around sectors less affected by national security concerns, such as the consumer segment.
“Interest from Middle Eastern investors in M&A opportunities in China has increased as relations between [both] continue to strengthen. We are also seeing a number of sales by private equity (PE) sponsors in the market, as investments made in prior years mature,” she continued.
Her colleague, Hong Kong-based partner, Xiaoxi Lin, noted that recent financial stress in the Chinese real estate market has presented interesting M&A opportunity in Hong Kong, through the sale of prime commercial and residential properties to generate cashflow and service restructuring debts.
“A cocktail of factors including the distress in the PRC real estate sector, rising interest rates, and regulatory restrictions have meant that commercial banks are reducing their exposure to the real estate sector, including loans secured by residential and commercial properties,” Yap said.
“Credit funds – who are not subject to the same regulatory restrictions – are stepping into this funding gap,” she added, highlighting that while the current elevated interest rate environment means that borrowing costs are higher, credit funds are able to provide financing on the back of higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and can offer swift deal execution.
IPO dynamics
In terms of the IPO landscape ahead, Lin told FA, “Market participants are cautiously expecting a stronger HK IPO market this year with more companies listed than in 2022”.
Corporate partner, Donnelly Chan, added that Hong Kong’s recent introduction of the Chapter 18C regime – which reduces the listing requirements threshold for firms operating in new economy industries – together with recent China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) reforms, is likely to support the market’s advancement.
“The track record and proven success of the pre-revenue Biotech listing regime and the weighted voting rights (WVR) listing regime since their introduction in 2018, coupled with the concession route for Greater China companies to secondary list on the main board has demonstrated the Hong Kong market’s flexible approach and readiness to evolve and explore opportunities,” he told FA.
Chan added that, as a result, it is hoped Hong Kong’s bourse will become “the stock exchange of choice” compared to other regional fundraising hubs.
Opportunity elsewhere
However, Yap is bullish on opportunity across the full breadth of Asian markets.
“For the remainder of 2023, we believe there will be continued interest in M&A opportunities in Asia,” she told FA.
“As inbound investment interest in China remains mixed given geo-politics, other single jurisdiction markets in Asia that can provide scale will be of interest to financial sponsor investors looking for efficiency in the deployment of capital.”
She pointed to markets such as India and Japan as benefitting from investor appetite – with the latter offering attractive costs “because of the lower yen”.
Yap added that Southeast Asia will continue to draw capital: “in particular Indonesia, with its relatively young demographics and the consumption power of its growing middle class.”
In terms of sectors, she noted that energy transition will remain of utmost importance “with interest in targets from renewables to electric vehicles to batteries to de-carbonising assets,” while digital infrastructure and data centre investment will continue to support the rise of e-commerce.
In the Linklaters release, head of Corporate, Sophie Mathur shared, “We are delighted to welcome Roger to our corporate practice. We are confident that his insights into takeovers and mergers regulations and policy matters will be of immense value-add to our clients when navigating take-privates and other public market transactions.”
Unlike the typical structure of a corporation, Linklaters employs a limited liability partnership which enables the firm’s partner leadership-base to make long-term strategic decisions for the business together.
Cheng’s appointment follows other key hires in Asia in recent months, including the appointment of Yoshiyuki Asaoka as corporate partner in Japan. In June 2021, William Liu was appointed as regional managing partner for Asia Pacific.
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CHIANG RAI: Officers from Provincial Police Region 5 and Immigration Bureau have arrested a Chinese national and 12 accomplices for online scam charges.
Pol Lt Gen Piya Tawichai, Provincial Police Region 5 commissioner, said yesterday the arrest followed a tip-off about a gang of scammers operating in Chiang Rai city.
Armed with a search warrant issued by Chiang Rai Provincial Court on Saturday, the police joined forces with immigration police to raid a commercial building in tambon Rob Wiang, Muang district the same day, where they found the gang busy scamming victims on their computers.
Police arrested Chu Huaixiang, a Chinese national who was identified as the gang leader along with 12 members of his team, which includes both Thai and Chinese nationals. Police also seized computers found in the building.
Pol Lt Gen Piya said the gang initiated the scam by creating fake profiles on Facebook, using photos of good-looking people taken from the internet as the profile pictures. They set up Facebook groups named Tam Boon Online (“making merit online”) and “Tour Boon” (“travelling and making merit”).
Thai members of the gang would then send Facebook messages to anyone they found on social media. If they get a response, they will continue talking with the victim to gain their trust. After a while, the gang members would trick the victim into making a cash donation and ask the victim to download a mobile application named App.Shaoxiang.cfd.
The application, developed by the gang’s Chinese members, was touted to be an online merit making application. It features pictures of temples in Chiang Rai to create the illusion of legitimacy. However, all the money donated through the app was actually transferred to proxy bank accounts, said the police.
The gang were charged with fraud and inputting fake data into the computer system.
The police will expand their investigations to find out who are behind the proxy bank accounts, in a bid to find other people who are involved with the scam.
A Chinese couple living in a 67-million-baht house in Bangkok were arrested yesterday for alleged multinational fraud, with damages estimated at 10 billion baht, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) said.
Shaoxian Su, 31, and his girlfriend Keyi Ye, 25, were taken into custody at their house in the Palazzo Srinakarin housing estate in Prawet district on charges of public fraud and money laundering.
Police from the CCIB impounded 1.5 million baht in cash, the title deeds for the house, ownership documents for four condo apartments in the Sukhumvit area worth a total of 128 million baht, and 14 Bearbrick dolls also found on the premises.
A CCIB spokesman quoted victims as accusing the couple of using fake online profiles to approach them via social media and enticing them into “invest in digital currencies and assets”.
Victims in Bangkok and Prachuap Khiri Khan told police they lost about 35 million baht. About 20,000 similar complaints were filed overseas, including the United States and the UK, which are believed to be linked to the suspects’ network. Total damages are estimated at 10 billion baht.
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The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) encourages the broader adoption of financial technology (fintech) in agriculture to help achieve the country’s food security agenda.
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A Chinese couple living in a 67-million-baht house in Bangkok were arrested on Wednesday for alleged multinational fraud, with damage estimated at 10 billion baht, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau said.
Shaoxian Su, 31, and his girlfriend Keyi Ye, 25, were taken into custody at their house in The Palazzo Srinakarin housing estate, in Prawet district, on Wednesday morning on charges of public fraud and money laundering.
Police from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) impounded 1.5 million baht in cash, the title deed for their 67-million-baht house, ownership documents for four condominium apartments in Sukhumvit area worth 128 million baht and 14 Bearbrick dolls also found on the premises.
A CCIB spokesman quoted victims as accusing the couple of using fake online profiles to approach them via social media and enticing them into “investing in digital currencies and assets”. Local victims were in Bangkok and Prachuap Khiri Khan. They told police they lost about 35 million baht to the suspects.
There were about 20,000 similar complaints filed in other countries, including the United States and Britain, believed linked to the suspects’ network. Total damage was estimated at 10 billion baht.
The couple did not have jobs. They often travelled abroad and had purchased Thailand Elite Cards, which made it easier for them, the CCIB said.
CCIB police also raided nearby luxury houses and impounded more assets they believed were linked to the suspects and their alleged crimes.