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 issu...
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Bloomberg
07 February 2014
Singapore may introduce a minimum price for mainboard shares and impose collaterals for some trades after a slump in the stocks of three commodity companies erased $8.8 billion in market value over three days in October.
The city may also set up an independent listing committee and boost enforcement, according to a joint statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange today. The central bank has been reviewing its market structure since Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp. tumbled at least 87% over three days in October.
The declines spurred a 20% drop in Singapore equity trading last quarter from a year earlier as brokerages restricted investments in riskier small-cap stocks. SGX, Southeast Asia’s biggest bourse, will add circuit breakers this month to protect investors from excessive price swings. The benchmark Straits Times Index slid 4.9% this year after ending 2013 with the smallest gain among developed markets.
“Today’s world is fast-changing and we need to strengthen Singapore’s securities market to meet the expectations of investors and companies,” Magnus Bocker, Singapore Exchange’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Regulators worldwide have evaluated safeguards since the May 2010 plunge known as the flash crash erased more than US$800 billion from the value of US equities in minutes. Exchanges in that country have implemented a limit-up/limit-down initiative that prevents market makers from quoting shares at prices deemed too far above or below current levels.
Penny-Stock Crash
In Singapore, “many investors have stayed out of the market since the penny-stock crash,” Jimmy Ho, president of the Society of Remisiers in Singapore, said before the announcement. “Whether new rules will help to restore confidence in the market will depend on the implementation of these rules. Regulators need to ensure that such rules are followed.”
Singapore also plans to shorten the settlement period to two days from three by 2016 and impose more transparency for short selling, according to the statement today. So-called contra-trading accounted for 31% of market turnover in the year ended October, the regulators said. The exchange and central bank have set a May 2 deadline for industry feedback on the proposed changes.
“Trading on unsecured credit can introduce systemic risk to the securities market,” according to the statement.
Nations around the world are cutting processing times, giving investors faster access to cash when they sell stocks. All European Union countries must settle trades in two days by the start of 2015, and US securities firms are considering trimming settlement periods.
Caution Warning
Starting March 3, Singapore Exchange will issue a “trade with caution” announcement whenever companies can’t explain queries on share trading, according to the statement. Companies will also be required to inform the bourse when they’re in takeover talks.
Singapore is Asia’s eighth-biggest stock market by value, and the second-biggest when measured against the size of each nation’s economy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The value of stock trading in Singapore dropped to a daily average of $990 million in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $1.23 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Blumont, which invests in minerals and energy, had soared more than 1,000% last year through the end of September to lead gains on the FTSE Straits Times All-Share Index, prompting the SGX to investigate the surge. The shares plunged 97% from an all-time closing high of $2.45 on Sept. 30 to 7.1 cents today.
Asiasons slumped 97% from its record close of $2.83 on Oct 1 to 9.8 cents today. LionGold tumbled 92% from its peak on Aug 29 to 14 cents.
The proposals will help in “promoting orderly trading and responsible investing” and “improving the transparency of market intervention measures,” the central bank and exchange said in the statement.