Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted in a follow up story on Allied Technologies’ S$33 million in funds gone missing from an escrow account managed by JLC Advisors, with the latter’s managing partner Jeffrey Ong now uncontactable. The article, published in the 31 May 2019 edition of Today, explains what an escrow account is.

Stefanie Yuen Thio said that, as an example, escrow accounts are useful if a lengthy delay is expected before a deal is completed, even when a seller and a buyer have signed their sale and purchase agreement.

In such cases, the seller may want to have some or all of the sale price money held by a secure third party, which would “carry out an important role to bridge the gap”, she said.

Apart from lawyers, it is also possible to use banks as escrow agents or commercial escrow agents such as corporate services firm Hawksford, though they usually cost of a lot more, Ms Yuen-Thio noted.

As a transactional lawyer who occasionally provides escrow services alongside handling the transaction, Ms Yuen-Thio told TODAY that she far prefers for the monies to be held by a separate party to reduce the risk and inconvenience for her firm.

The story may be found here: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/explainer-allied-techs-s332-million-went-missing-escrow-account-what-are-they-and-why-do