Singapore, 08 September 2003... The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today notified Nagacorp Ltd of its intention to refuse registration of the company's prospectus.  Nagacorp is a Cayman Islands-registered company and operates a casino in Cambodia.  The company lodged its prospectus with MAS on 19 August 2003.

2   MAS has reviewed Nagacorp's prospectus and held discussions with the company and its advisers.  We are of the opinion that it would not be in the public interest to register Nagacorp's prospectus.  MAS has reservations that Nagacorp's operations are not subject to a fully developed and implemented legal and supervisory framework for the regulation of casinos and the prevention of money laundering, as recommended by the Financial Action Task Force. Nagacorp also does not possess an established track record of independent audits of the effectiveness of its internal controls for addressing money laundering risks.

3   Under the Securities and Futures Act, Nagacorp has 10 days, until 18 September 2003, to make submissions to MAS as to why MAS should register the company's prospectus.

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Note to editors:

Securities and Futures Act (SFA)

Section 240(13) of the SFA provides that MAS may refuse to register a prospectus if the prospectus contains any false or misleading statement, has omitted any material information that should be included in a prospectus or does not comply with the SFA in any other way, or if MAS is of the opinion that it is not in the public interest to do so.

Before MAS may refuse to register a prospectus, it must notify the issuer of its intention to do so and give the issuer an opportunity to make written submissions to MAS within 10 days to show why MAS should not refuse to register the prospectus.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

The FATF is an inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.  Singapore has been a FATF member since 1991.

In its Forty Recommendations issued in June 2003, the FATF recommended, among other things, that casinos be subject to a comprehensive regulatory and supervisory regime that ensures that they have effectively implemented the necessary anti-money laundering and terrorist-financing measures. The FATF recommended that, at a minimum:

a) casinos should be licensed;

b) competent authorities should take the necessary legal or regulatory measures to prevent criminals or their associates from holding or being the beneficial owner of a significant or controlling interest, holding a management function in, or being an operator of a casino; and

c) competent authorities should ensure that casinos are effectively supervised for compliance with requirements to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.