Beleaguered trade finance platform provider Triterras has missed a second deadline for filing its audited financial results, citing an “unanticipated delay”. 

The Nasdaq-listed fintech, which is headquartered in Singapore, announced on Monday evening it had written to the exchange to request a second deadline extension, after failing to file its accounts by November 1. 

The company did not provide details of the delay and declined to comment further when contacted by GTR. 

Triterras had previously been granted an extension of around four months after missing its initial deadline at the end of June. At the time it attributed that delay to the difficulty in finding a new auditor after the resignation of KPMG six months earlier. 

The company, which operates the blockchain-based trade finance platform Kratos, says it has now requested until December 1 to file its audited results. 

It says it “cannot offer any assurances that Nasdaq will permit an extension but is hopeful that the request will be granted”.  

If unsuccessful, Triterras notes it would have the opportunity to launch an appeal with Nasdaq’s hearings panel. Nasdaq is able to de-list companies that do not meet its requirements. 

The announcement comes less than a fortnight after Filipe Pohlmann Gonzaga, the company’s vice-president of business development for Europe and America, fielded questions on the progress of the audit during an online industry event hosted by Topio Networks. 

“The audited financials will be submitted by November 1, and after that we will schedule our earnings call regarding the financial results that ended [at] the end of February this year,” he said. 

“No worries; you can check everything on the website.” 

Triterras has endured a difficult year since disclosing in December 2020 that its former sister company, Rhodium Resources, was facing difficulties obtaining trade and commodity finance lines. 

Rhodium founder and director Srinivas Koneru is also co-founder, executive chairman and chief executive of Triterras. Rhodium now trades as Antanium Resources. 

Investors had been told Triterras would initially rely on its Rhodium connections to expand trade volumes quickly, before moving away from its reliance on those customers.  

However, several US law firms claimed that the December disclosure indicated a deeper level of dependency than previously suggested. 

The following month, short sellers accused Triterras of understating the proportion of transactions on its platform that were carried out by companies linked to Koneru, as well as to fellow co-founder Rick Maurer. Maurer is also chief executive of commodities trader Longview Resources. 

Following an examination of blockchain records, hedge fund Phase 2 Resources alleged that nearly two-thirds of trades over a 14-month period were carried out by companies controlled by Koneru or Maurer. 

GTR revealed in March that thousands of transactions that took place on Triterras’ platform between June 2019 and November 2020 were publicly visible. Blockchain records show the parties involved in individual trades, as well as the cargo being traded and information on transaction volumes and values. 

Koneru had previously dismissed the short seller accusations as an attempt at “coordinated market manipulation”, and said some data had been obtained from sources other than blockchain data. 

Triterras said in January it would launch an “independent investigation” with the intention to “address and rebut” the allegations made. It would be undertaken by a law firm and overseen by its board of directors’ audit committee. 

But in April, two directors stood down from the company’s board following a disagreement over its approach. One director, Matthew Richards, explained that senior staff “have very different views to my own as to the optimal path forward for the company at this extremely challenging time”. 

Triterras announced last week the investigation had been completed, with the audit committee concluding “that the allegations contained in the short report lack either factual support or material basis”. 

“Accordingly, the audit committee has concluded that those allegations do not require additional action by the company,” it said. 

It did not disclose the identity of the external advisors used, or give any further details on their findings. When contacted by GTR a company spokesperson declined to provide additional information.