Noble dodges accounting queries at AGM

Singapore

AT Noble Group's annual general meeting here on Friday, shareholders hoping to gain clarity on the recent Iceberg Research saga were disappointed.

During the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Noble's founder and chairman Richard Elman repeatedly dodged shareholders' queries on the group's accounting practices, and instead steered the AGM's focus to the resolutions on Noble's financial statements and the reports of its directors and auditors.

In mid-February, Iceberg Research launched a series of attacks on the accounting practices of Singapore-listed Noble Group, Asia's largest commodity trader by revenue. Muddy Waters - the short-seller famed for its 2012 attacks on commodity group Olam International - followed suit …