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Delaying the listing of Focus Point Holdings Bhd is to clear uncertainties, says the Securities Commission (SC), but it is mum on whether it is satisfied with the company’s explanation.

The country’s largest professional eye-care chain postponed its listing at the last minute on Tuesday following an anonymous complaint. It has refuted all of the allegations in the complaint.

Neither Bursa Malaysia nor the SC would comment on the new listing date for Focus Point or whether any action is being taken to address the complaint.

An SC spokesperson said the company’s listing was delayed to allow the company to address the complaint and inform the market about its impact, if any.

“The complaint creates uncertainties in the market for Focus Point’s shares and until the company is given an opportunity to address the matters raised in the complaint, it would not be beneficial for both the company and investors for the trading of the company’s shares to commence.

“As the complaint relates to matters which existed when the company’s prospectus was issued, it may affect an investor’s decision to invest and the price he is willing to invest at,” the SC said in a statement to Business Times yesterday.

A Bursa Malaysia spokesperson said the listing procedures would resume and the listing date would be confirmed after the company received the green light from the authorities.

Focus Point group president and chief executive officer Datuk Liaw Choon Liang was unavailable for comment.

The anonymous complaint cited three allegations.

These include the company not having enough qualified optometrists or opticians, contact lenses being prescribed by unqualified personnel and the company having only 27 equipment known as K-metres against its total outlet number of 144.

Focus Point was due to raise RM16.1 million from its initial public offering, of which RM7.74 million would be used to fund its local expansion plans to increase the number of stores to 200 by end-2011 from 144 now.

Its shares were planned to be listed on Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market on Tuesday, but the company deferred the listing just an hour before the opening bell.

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Shares of power plant builder Mudajaya Group Bhd fell for a second day as jittery investors booked in profits from recent sharp gains on a news report that the company had been probed by the Securities Commission (SC).

Mudajaya told the exchange yesterday it “has not been directly queried by the SC” but assured investors that “it is more than willing to extend its full cooperation” if queried by the regulator.

“The board of Mudajaya is not aware of the nature of the complaint about the company by anyone whosoever,” it said in reply to the exchange’s query on the report published over the weekend.

The stock fell as much as 5.3% yesterday after trade resumed following a one-hour suspension from the opening bell to make way for the announcement.

Mudajaya shed 19 sen, or 3.2%, to close at RM5.69 on volume of 2.78 million shares.

The stock hit a record high of RM5.94 on Thursday, driven partly by speculation that a big independent power producer might buy a significant stake in the company.

Tanjong Plc, which was linked as a potential buyer, had said it had no interest in buying a stake in Mudajaya.

StarBiz made several calls yesterday to Mudajaya’s office in an attempt to get some clarification on the SC probe, but failed to speak to any of the company’s top officials.

A spokesman at the SC yesterday confirmed that the regulator was “looking into the affairs” of Mudajaya following a specific complaint made against the company but declined to elaborate.

It is believed that Mudajaya’s management had met analysts yesterday in a bid to allay some of the concerns raised about the company.

An analyst told StarBiz that the management was unaware of the nature of SC’s probe.

But despite the lack of clear details, he remained positive about Mudajaya’s future prospects because of its strong earnings growth potential and steady recurring income.

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The Securities Commission (SC) has started investigating the activities of SJ Asset Management Sdn Bhd (SJAM), days after it stopped the company from managing new funds.

It also shed more light on how it came to examine SJAM, but stopped short of saying what was amiss at the fund management company despite queries by Business Times.

“We have commenced investigations into the activities of SJAM and appropriate action will be taken depending on the outcome of the investigations,” an SC spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, the SC ordered SJAM to stop getting new mandates and to maintain and preserve all records of clients’ trades and payments.

BDO Consulting Sdn Bhd was appointed to help assess SJAM’s books, accounts and records further.

However, BDO, hired early this year, now has its work scope expanded to include examining and monitoring SJAM’s transactions.

In an immediate response, SJAM chairman Datuk Kamaruddin Hamzah said that several directors and its management were giving their full cooperation to the SC.

“We have been in constant dialogue with the SC and other authorities and welcome the on-site examination of our records. We are giving our full cooperation,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Replying to questions from Business Times, the SC said it had enhanced its supervisory oversight of the fund management industry over the last few years.

Based on its risk-based supervision framework, the SC conducts examination of fund management companies in line with efforts to enhance investor protection.

The SC also undertakes thematic reviews of fund management companies’ operations and activities.

Kamaruddin, who is also one of the owners of SJAM Holdings Sdn Bhd – the parent company of SJAM – together with managing director Whai Onn Tan declined to comment further.

“Pending the conclusion of the SC’s examination, it would be improper for us to comment further,” he said.

Whai is also SJAM’s head of fund and portfolio management, while Kamaruddin sits on the board of directors of a few public-listed companies.

SJAM, a licensed fund company incorporated in 1992, manages regional investments in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea.

Its investment products include fund management, managed portfolio, investment services and private equity accounts.

Based on the company’s website, SJAM has authorised capital of RM10 million and paid-up of RM6.38 million.

Its investment portfolio targets active, quality-growth companies with reasonable prices.

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