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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Bloomberg
11 January 2014
A Goldman Sachs Group Inc unit denied dumping a Singapore private wealth client's shares that it held as collateral and said that it is still owed money.
Quah Su Ling sued Goldman Sachs International in London, accusing it of breach of contract for selling her shares in Blumont Group Ltd, Asiasons Capital Ltd and LionGold Corp and depressing their prices. Goldman Sachs International countersued for US$12.3 million that it says it is still owed.
Goldman Sachs International sold the shares in an "orderly and measured manner - consistent with industry practice and accepted standards - over the course of three weeks", the bank said in court papers filed in London and made available this week. The lawsuit is Ms Quah's "attempt to delay or avoid repayment of debt".
Shares of the three Singapore companies tumbled with Asiasons falling 62 per cent on Oct 4, while Blumont declined 56 per cent and LionGold was down 42 per cent. Over three days from Oct 4, the declines erased US$6.9 billion from Singapore's bourse value. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the city's stock exchange said that they would probe activities around the shares of the companies.
Ms Quah, the chief executive officer of IPCO International Ltd, claimed that Goldman Sachs demanded that she repay US$48 million within one-and-a-half hours on Oct 2 and started selling her shares. The bank had not informed her previously of any shortfall in her margin loan nor gave her reasonable time to make payment, Ms Quah said in court papers.
Edward Naylor, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for Goldman Sachs, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Ms Quah did not respond to two e-mails or a call to her office.
Goldman Sachs has also been sued in London by James Hong, an executive director at Blumont. Mr Hong claimed that the bank breached its duties by "arbitrarily" selling his shares in the three Singapore commodity companies held as collateral, according to the complaint.
Regulators around the world have stepped up oversight of capital markets after the global financial crisis in 2008. Singapore's central bank established a 13-member council in 2010 with the goal of boosting corporate governance standards and investor confidence.
Bank responds to legal action taken after penny stock crash
Rachel Scully
11 January 2014
Banking giant Goldman Sachs is countersuing two investors in Singapore following the catastrophic penny stock crash that wiped out $8 billion in value last October.
The Straits Times understands that Goldman Sachs International filed court papers with Britain’s High Court late last month.
Its suits are in response to legal action taken by Mr James Hong, the executive director of Blumont Group, and Ms Quah Su-Ling, the chief executive of Ipco International, against Goldman Sachs.
Mr Hong and Ms Quah allege that Goldman force-sold their stakes in the penny stock trio at the centre of the crash - Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp.
The bank had issued a demand notice, giving both parties less than two hours to raise more than $60 million each to cover their loans.
Mr Hong and Ms Quah failed to meet the deadline and were deemed to have defaulted on their loan obligations, which triggered the force-selling on Oct 2 last year.
Sources said Goldman is strongly refuting claims that it “dumped” the shares and is countersuing both parties for the amounts it is owed.
In a report yesterday, Bloomberg cited court papers of the bank’s suit against Ms Quah.
The article stated that Goldman said it sold the shares in an “orderly and measured manner - consistent with industry practice and accepted standards - over the course of three weeks”.
It dubbed Ms Quah’s lawsuit against the bank as an “attempt to delay or avoid repayment of debt”.
Goldman Sachs is counter- suing her for the US$12.3 million (S$15.6 million) she still owes it.
The Straits Times previously reported that Ms Quah had loans in excess of $61 million with Goldman Sachs.
She could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr Hong claimed in court papers that Goldman gave him a credit facility of more than $64 million. Attempts to reach Mr Hong were also unsuccessful.
It is understood that he and Ms Quah have until the end of the month to respond to the countersuit.
A Goldman Sachs spokesman in Hong Kong declined The Straits Times’ request for comment on the two cases.
Ms Ng Su Ling, an independent director at LionGold and company secretary at Ipco International, was the third individual to commence legal proceedings against the bank in the High Court in Britain last year.
A separate suit has been filed in the Singapore High Court by United States discount broker Interactive Brokers Group against eight parties in a bid to recover about $79 million.
They include Ms Quah and Blumont executive chairman Neo Kim Hock.
The penny stock crash was so severe that it sparked an extensive review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Exchange over trading activity around the three stocks.
The MAS has also said it will review market practices and structures.
The regulator said that both reviews are still ongoing.
Blumont shares closed down 2.5 per cent at 7.8 cents; Asiasons lost 0.87 per cent to 11.4 cents and LionGold dipped 1.25 per cent to 15.8 cents yesterday.