TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issue manager
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Reuters
13 August 2011
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to disclose which employees knew of its decision to downgrade US debt before it was announced last week.
In a report yesterday, the Financial Times said the move was part of a preliminary examination into potential insider trading.
The inquiry was made by the SEC’s examination staff, which can make referrals to the enforcement division if it believes any laws have been violated.
This particular inquiry, however, may not result in a referral.
The Financial Times quoted a person privy to the matter as saying the examination staff were looking at who had the information as a starting point.
The source added that the agency was not aware of a leak from an S&P insider, nor was it aware of an aberrational trade.
Proving someone leaked information about the downgrade, or traded ahead of it, could be challenging.
Many traders anticipated the downgrade, and bets could occur across numerous securities or currencies without inside information.
In a traditional insider trading case, there is often a more predictable correlation between a company’s stock price and a particular development.
The inquiry comes as the SEC has sought to be more pro-active in its oversight responsibilities.
The agency launched specialised units within its enforcement division last year, and has revised the approach of its examination group after hiring new leadership.
The examination group first gained the powers to inspect credit rating agencies in 2007. These grew following the passage of the Dodd-Frank law last year.
The examination group, led by Mr Carlo di Florio, has been working more closely with the enforcement division in its review of registered companies since the SEC reorganised those divisions.
If the investigation results in a case, it would not be the first time government-related information was leaked or a rating firm employee was charged with insider trading.
The SEC’s inquiry comes as the Senate Banking Committee is looking at S&P’s downgrade decision.
S&P, whose unprecedented downgrade of US debt triggered a worldwide stocks sell-off, is pushing back against a government proposal that would require credit raters to disclose ‘significant errors’ in how they calculate their ratings.
S&P, which was accused by the Obama administration of making an error in its calculations leading to last week’s downgrade, raised concerns about the proposed new corrections policy and other issues in an 84-page letter to the SEC.
The SEC is weighing sweeping new rules designed to improve the quality of ratings after their poor performance in the financial crisis.
The 517-page proposal includes a requirement that ratings agencies post on their websites when a ‘significant error’ is identified in their methodology for a credit rating action.
S&P vehemently denied it had made an error, but acknowledged that it changed its long-term economic assumptions after discussions with the Treasury Department.