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
Comments
Letter to Editor of Business Times
S Nallakaruppan
05 December 2014
I read with interest your headline report, "Second market stoppage in a month triggers SGX 'sorry' and MAS warning" (BT, Dec 4).
This makes a mockery of the whole incident as it is the second major disruption within a short space of less than a month. It is even more painful to realise that S$250 million was spent in upgrading the computer systems just a couple of years ago to make it one of the best systems in the region, if not the world.
Saying "sorry" is not good enough. What we need now is a thorough investigation - maybe even an independent committee formed to review the embarrassing incidents.
Although these incidents have caused some damage to Singapore's reputation as a financial hub, more troubling issues are at hand. The dismal level of activity in the Singapore bourse over such a prolonged period is much more worrying.
Many measures have been introduced by Singapore Exchange (SGX) to revive the market, but have failed. One such measure was the removal of lunch breaks; when it was introduced a couple of years ago, it was mentioned that volumes would improve, but that has clearly not been the case.
In this latest disruption, the market traded close to S$900 million in half a day's trading, hitting volumes which were about 80 per cent of an average day! So it might be worth considering re-instating lunch breaks. Volumes might actually improve.
One of the main reasons for the failure of many policies introduced by the SGX is the lack of due consultation with market players. All the SGX and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) need to do is to get down from their high horses and talk. Many of the issues we have on hand can be resolved if we start communicating.
I have written some articles to the press recently, but there has been no response from the SGX or the MAS. As part of good corporate governance and being a listed exchange, SGX owes a duty of care to at least make an attempt to respond to my valid issues raised.
What the markets need now is confidence and a level playing field for all market participants. It seems that many policies introduced by SGX are meant for the institutional guys; the poor retail investor is left high and dry. There is not much depth in the Singapore market; many retail investors and some smaller institutional investors have stopped participating in it.
As we all know, market price is relative, and the sheer size of the large institutional investors and traders can influence the market prices to a large extent. With the market-maker and liquidity-provider programmes, these large institutional investors are now "licensed" to influence the prices.
Retail investors have thus wised up and begun investing in overseas markets, leaving the Singapore market for good.
Tonnes of money are sitting in Singapore banks, earning low interest. Many of our listed companies are offering decent dividend yields of greater than 3 per cent.
Yes, SGX has been organising seminars and road shows to educate the investing public, but more needs to be done to rebuild the confidence and to regain the trust it badly needs to reinforce the notion that it is a level playing field for all.
Based on the latest financial year results, the SGX chief executive draws a salary of S$3.78 million per year. Quite a few brokers earn less than S$1,000 a month. Also, most of the 3,800 brokers are Singaporean and have been suffering silently as they do not have an adequate platform to address their grievances. Several thousands of livelihoods are at stake and the government needs to do a thorough review of the industry and institute measures with adequate consultation of market players. This has to be done and it must be done with some urgency.
Let us make the Singapore bourse once again a market leader in the region, if not the world.