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Stockbroking firm AmFraser Securities has won its court fight to recover $1.9 million from a former customer who racked up trading losses in the October 2013 penny stock crash.

Platinum Partners, the New York hedge fund manager whose top men were arrested for alleged fraud on Monday, was at one point seen as a close ally to the three companies at the heart of the 2013 penny stock crash in Singapore.

A district judge found a project manager and his former wife liable for unauthorised share trading in a rare suit brought by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Information gathered during an investigation into ISR Capital's recent stock crash led prosecutors of John Soh Chee Wen to add allegations of witness tampering, Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Guan Siew told the court on Tuesday during Soh's bail hearing.

A district judge adjourned the case of John Soh Chee Wen, the alleged mastermind of the penny stock crash, to next Thursday (Dec 30).

It almost never ends well when the Singapore Exchange cuts to the chase after pounding firms on its cross hair with a litany of questions on the trading of their shares and corporate transactions.

The new executive chairman of a firm that been queried several times by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) over a proposed mining deal said that the company "practises the highest levels of corporate governance and ethics".

The nagging problem with ISR Capital's proposed acquisition of a rare-earth mining asset is that the company's answers to numerous queries just keep raising even more questions.

ISR Capital, which has had its shares suspended by the regulator, said on Wednesday it will commission a third independent report to value a proposed purchase in Madagascar that would allow the firm to mine for rare earth oxides.

Several current and former directors of Swiber Holdings have been hauled up for questioning by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and released on bail.

Two former executives charged over the October 2013 penny stock crash remain behind bars as they struggle to raise funds for their bail.

The two alleged masterminds of the penny stock crash and their supposed key accomplice faced a total of 365 charges yesterday in what prosecutors call the largest market manipulation case in Singapore's history.

The curtains rose on Singapore's biggest market-rigging scandal on Friday, as the alleged perpetrators who wiped out S$8 billion from the market in the penny stock crash of 2013 appeared before the court.

Penny stock crash "mastermind" John Soh Chee Wen and two others, on Friday (Nov 25) were slapped with a total of 365 charges for their roles in the infamous penny stock crash in October 2013 that wiped out S$8 billion from the Singapore stock market in just three days.

For the fourth time in six months, Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Thursday issued a trading query to mainboard-listed ISR Capital. The latest query also makes it the second query this week directed at the company.

Mainboard-listed ISR Capital's plan to acquire a stake in a mining concession has drawn yet another query from the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Monday queried mainboard-listed ISR Capital on its Al Maynard valuation report.

Mainboard-listed ISR Capital, which intends to acquire a Madagascar rare earths mining concession valued at over US$1 billion, has appointed Chen Tong, a mining and resources sector expert, as executive chairman of its board of directors.

The US dollar soared against high-yielding currencies and Asian emerging markets sank on Friday (Nov 11) on the prospect of higher US interest rates, with dealers betting Donald Trump's planned huge spending policies will fire inflation.

The poor state of the local stock market has been the subject of much discussion over the past 2-3 years. Declining liquidity, a rising tide of delistings and a dearth of large, good-quality replacements are among the problems the market faces. It is said that the absence of active daily trading married to a relatively small size means there is a very real risk that the Singapore market will fall off the radar of big international money - if it already hasn't.

For students like Sun Jiaxuan at the National University of Singapore, the future of finance is all about high-frequency trading firms, not the Wall Street banks that graduates once aspired to.

Dutch coffee and tea firm Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) is planning to acquire Super Group in a deal valuing Super at S$1.45 billion, with the aim of delisting and privatising the firm.

Property investment firm Imperium Crown is planning to invest S$5 million in two cineplexes in China, which it says will open opportunities for the group to tap into China's booming film industry.

Homegrown specialty pharmaceutical company iX Biopharma has been granted a patent in Canada for its WaferiX drug delivery technology.

Two independent directors of doormaker KLW Holdings - under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for an alleged offence under the Securities and Futures Act - have resigned.

Yuuzoo Corporation Limited is planning to invest between US$50 million and US$150 million in an American independent movie studio and entertainment group which only recently exited bankruptcy.

This column on Dec 15, 2015, titled "Boosting liquidity: fundamental rethink needed", stated that it would not be an exaggeration to describe conditions in the local stock market at the time as extremely dire, possibly the worst they have been since the US sub-prime crash of 2008.

China Environment announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary, Fujian Dongyuan Environmental Protection, has been locked out of its office premises by its landlord, Fujian Mintai Environmental Protection.

Troubled S-chip China Sky Chemical Fibre has filed a lawsuit in Singapore's High Court against Zheng Kai Su on Oct 24 for what it claimed was "fraudulent and/or unauthorised use of the group's funds and the fraudulent and/or unauthorised use of the group's assets as collateral for securing loans", it said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday evening.

The flood of Chinese money into the city before the mainland's National Day celebrations in early October has slowed to a trickle since traders returned from the week-long break.

The record jail term imposed on former Jade Technologies president Anthony Soh Guan Cheow was extended by the High Court to 11 years yesterday following a failed appeal.

A Hong Kong tribunal banned US short-seller Andrew Left from trading on the city’s market for five years after publishing “false and/or misleading” claims about a company listed there.

China New Town Development Co is seeking a voluntary delisting from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to trade only on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong to save on costs and improve liquidity.

When news of a potential takeover of a listed company breaks, shareholders and the public would usually look first to the board's response to the takeover offer.

One of the world’s fastest-growing trading shops doesn’t have any traders. Bloomberg

Singapore is pressing on with its probe into Malaysia's 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), with prosecutors filing fresh charges against two former senior private bankers of BSI Singapore for forgery and failure to flag suspicious transactions.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is withdrawing the merchant bank status of Switzerland-based Falcon Private Bank's Singapore branch for "serious failures in anti-money laundering (AML) controls and improper conduct by senior management at the head office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore branch", it said on Tuesday.

Independent auditor of oil-and-gas company Magnus Energy on Monday issued a qualified opinion on the company's financial statement for the year ended June 30, 2016.

An old adage in real estate investment - "location, location, location" - suggests that real estate investors should focus more on the location than the physical attributes, tenure and stage of the market cycle.

Hong Kong is becoming the new wild east as mainland investors increasingly target the city's stocks.

Mainboard-listed construction firm MMP Resources said on Friday (Oct 07) that Edward Lee Ewe Ming has filed an application with the Singapore High Court to wind up the company for non-payment of S$5.22 million.

Keppel Corporation fell nine Singapore cents or 1.7 per cent to S$5.30 after it said on Monday morning that a former Brazil agent might have engaged in illegal activity.

As Singapore's leading voice for all minority shareholders, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or SIAS, should tread carefully when getting involved in ongoing general offers.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Monday reprimanded door maker KLW Holdings and two former key executives for a breach of Catalist rules. It has referred the case and potential breaches of the law to the relevant authorities.

Buying bargain-bin coal mines amid the worst commodity slump in a generation has turned into a savvy bet as prices of the fuel surge.

Quarterly reports, beginning with the first one this week, will cover alerts triggered by suspicious trading activity

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) will push out more data linked to possible market misconduct to brokerages in a bid to detect and stop market rigging, it said on Wednesday.

Small and underperforming public companies are more likely to become acquisition targets, while the reverse is true for private companies, a study has found.

Chasing higher returns in a slowing economy, Chinese investors could soon dominate Hong Kong's stock market, likely redefining how shares, especially small-caps, are traded and priced there.

Business development managers at Chinese state-owned firms have been put on notice: mess up on M&A deals and you can be held personally liable - for life.

Ezra Holdings Ltd is leading a rebound among Singapore oil-service providers this month, after bearish bets pushed the company's shares to all-time lows. The rally will be short-lived amid deepening financial distress in the industry, analysts say.

ISR Capital's big run has made some brokers nervous enough to impose trading restrictions on the counter. But that has not knocked the wind out of this year's best-performing stock.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) fielded a string of queries at its annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday with investors voicing concerns over salaries and the recent trading disruption.

Local brokerages Phillip Securities and OCBC Securities have joined other houses in restricting trades made on investment firm ISR Capital, as a massive rally in the counter looks at risk of reversing.

Aztech Group's co-founder, chairman and CEO, Michaeal Mun Hong Yew, announced on Tuesday (Sept 20) his offer to take the diversified electronics, marine and food company private at 42 Singapore cents a share.

Catalist-listed medical-property developer International Healthway Corporation (IHC) said before trading hours on Friday that the appointment of receivers by its two Australian bank lenders, Westpac and National Australia Bank (NAB), to IHC's three properties in Australia is a consequence of the disputed appointment of receivers by Crest Funds (Crest Receivers).

The Singapore Exchange has confirmed investigations into developments at Swiber Holdings, saying that the probe is ongoing.

Shareholders of Otto Marine have voted in support of a voluntary delisting offer by executive chairman and controlling shareholder Yaw Chee Siew.

Retail investors' rights must be protected as such shares concentrate power in select few

An industry working group could launch Singapore's first Stewardship Code by the end of the year, laying out how investors should use their powers as shareholders, according to Hans Cristoph-Hirt, co-head of Hermes Equity Ownership Services.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is going after Swiber Holdings for potential breaches to the exchange's Rule 703 pertaining to disclosure of material information.

For all the predictions about the death of coal, it's now one of the hottest commodities in the world. The resurrection may have further to run.

Should SGX allow DC companies to list here? As with many contentious areas, it depends on who you ask. Like quarterly reporting for example, ask those who have to do the actual work, namely the corporate sector, and the reply would be that it is a waste of resources, adds to share price volatility and so should be scrapped. Yet, ask shareholders and investors and the view is very different - financial updates every three months are welcome and deemed very necessary in decision-making.

Investor and sister call for EGM as International Healthway Corporation seeks legal advice

Marvellous Glory Holdings, the special vehicle that is planning to make a voluntary conditional offer to acquire all the shares of mainboard-listed vegetable processor China Minzhong Food Corporation (CMZ) at S$1.20 apiece, has unveiled two pre-conditions that must be satisfied for the offer to go through.

China Environment, which manufactures air pollution control and treatment systems in China, said on Tuesday that the group's current assets are greater than its current liabilities after taking in an impairment charge of 356 million yuan (S$72.3 million).

ISR Capital has announced that it will raise S$12 million by issuing 141 million new shares priced at 8.5 Singaporean cents each to four investors.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) will soon issue a surveillance handbook to brokers containing case studies involving market rigging and manipulation in an effort to educate brokers on trading activities that are allowed and those that are not.

The SGX board should also consider if DCS are the way to build a sustainable exchange

If the Singapore Exchange (SGX) wants to have dual-class shares, it will have to avoid some of the missteps by its rival in Hong Kong, but may ultimately still have to accept higher levels of governance risk in the marketplace.

MMP Resources is conducting a share placement to raise about S$1.3 million for its expansion into Japan.

Despite capital inflow into “smart-beta” exchange traded funds (EFT) hitting a record high globally, take-up for the new breed of EFTs – which track every conceivable segment of the market – by Chinese investors remains cool.

Where does freedom of speech end, and investor protection kick in?

Cash flow statements and debt refinancing plans of O&M (offshore and marine) counters have come under intense scrutiny, as analysts and stakeholders attempt to distinguish players more at risk than others.

I was shopping for fruit at a Bangkok supermarket, feeling rather perplexed. There I was, a Singaporean earning a salary that was easily many times that of the average Thai. But I was reluctant to spend. The items on offer were even more expensive than Singapore prices: normal-looking small apples at S$1 each, withered navel oranges going for S$2, and bags of grapes going for S$15.

After US multi-level marketing company Herbalife settled a probe of its sales practices with the US Federal Trade Commission last month, top executives assured investors that the company would be able to thrive under the new rules.

China's regulators are intensifying scrutiny of unusual movements in stocks as they seek to damp speculation in the nation's financial markets.

The full-year net loss of $12.5 million racked up by property investment firm Imperium Crown means it may be in trouble for paying out dividends without generating the profits to foot the bill.

When a team of hackers discovered that St Jude Medical Inc's pacemakers and defibrillators had security vulnerabilities that could put lives at risk, they didn't warn St Jude. Instead, the hackers, who work for cybersecurity startup MedSec, e-mailed Carson Block, who runs the Muddy Waters Capital LLC investment firm, in May. They had a money-making proposal.

After suffering through a 953 per cent rally in shares of Yirendai Ltd since mid-February, hedge funds and other bearish speculators were rewarded over the past four days as the Chinese peer-to-peer lender sank 35 per cent in US trading. Holding on to the trade has been especially costly after annualised borrowing rates for Yirendai shares jumped to about 40 per cent, the highest level among big Chinese companies tracked by IHS Markit Ltd.

In the first "front running" case being prosecuted for insider trading here, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) slapped more than 300 charges on two dealers from First State Investments Singapore (FSI) and a remisier with UOB Kay Hian for alleged offences involving counters listed in Singapore and abroad.

Shareholders must be informed of the risks and directors must give opinion on proposed deal

The answer is to exercise so-called "death spiral" convertible bonds at an even lower price.

China Bearing, which became a cash company after disposing of its operating subsidiary in December last year, is acquiring an Indonesian nickel ore mine via a reverse takeover.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is imposing a moratorium on its minimum trading price (MTP) requirement while it seeks feedback on adding a market capitalisation test to existing criteria.

Bankrupt former IPCO International CEO Quah Su-Ling and LionGold Corp’s director of business and corporate development Peter Chen are among eight parties that have been ordered to pay $17.488 million to the defendants in a lawsuit initiated four years ago. And, the details of the legal tangle, which has not been widely discussed, provide an interesting backstory to the penny stock crash of October 2013 that sparked Singapore’s biggest securities fraud investigation. The Edge

ISR Capital declined to reveal the identity of the subscriber of debt securities recently issued by one of its subsidiaries, and did not specifically state the names of the individuals and companies related to its overdue trade receivables $2.382 million as at June 30, despite being asked to do so by the Singapore Exchange.

Short-sellers who made their names and fortunes wiping billions off Chinese and Southeast Asian companies are setting their sights on Japan after a series of accounting scandals amplified concerns about weak corporate governance there.

The son of Malaysia's former finance minister Daim Zainuddin was made a bankrupt last week over some $1.65 million in debts that he owed to Maybank Kim Eng Securities.

Tired of spending hours at her Beijing bank discussing her finances and a myriad of investment options with her account manager, Lauren Ma turned to Lingji, a phone app that pre-selects a range of assets and trades for her automatically.

The board of ISR Capital is making a mockery of the notion of conflict by insisting that there is no issue with taking deal advice from someone who also sits on the opposite side of the table.

ISR Capital has revealed that it is taking advice on a major acquisition from a corporate advisor whose partner is also a director of the vendor in the deal, according to the company's replies to queries from the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

When Frank Chen sees China's stocks rise, he thinks of how he can reduce his investments.

Singapore Medical Group (SMG) on Thursday rose as much as two cents or 7.4 per cent to S$0.29 in early trading, after RHB initiated coverage on the specialist healthcare provider with a "buy" rating and a target price of S$0.45.

The fate of Swiber Holdings may now be hanging precariously in the balance, but the home-grown company was once a darling in the offshore and marine industry.

Court hearing on firm's judicial management confirms DBS as single largest creditor; followed by China Development Bank, ICICI and UOB

With about S$1 billion in Singapore oil-and-gas bonds due by next year, fears are building that Swiber's collapse will trigger a domino effect on its peers.

Shares in Noble Group continued to fall on Wednesday in heavy trading as investors sold the rights shares ahead of their listing on Thursday and as more traders jumped on the selling bandwagon amid the plunge.

Homegrown startups are making a name for themselves. On Monday, crowdfunding platform Crowdo reported that it has received the coveted full licence to conduct securities crowdfunding here, while tech media platform e27 announced that it has raised S$3 million in Series A funding.

Oil price slump and failure of equity fund to pay for $268m shares deal heavy blow

Cash on hand just a fraction of US$25.9m in letters of demand as at July 26

Independence of these three Swiber directors is debatable

Plenty of people are asking when the Government will reduce or remove the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty, but perhaps the real question is whether it will do so at all, given recent comments that suggest the slew of stamp duties and taxes on property may be here to stay

When the possibility of having a listed regulator was first raised as a suitable model for the local stock market in the late 1990s, not only was it novel - it appeared to have plenty of appeal. After all, not only had other markets adopted it, but who better to police the universe of listed entities than one of its own?

The swift turn of events and the company's clarification announcements suggest that there might not have been adequate deliberation by the board of directors on its courses of action and the implications of its decisions.

New rules under Singapore's bankruptcy framework to create a more "rehabilitative environment" for bankrupts will come into force from August, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said on Wednesday.

Oil and gas contractor Swiber Holdings has filed a winding-up application, and its directors have resigned to pursue their own interests, the company announced on Thursday.

When Indonesian coal miner Resources Prima Group (RPG) requested on Thursday last week for its trading halt to be lifted after the company announced it had received two legal letters of demand, the time for trading to resume was seven minutes later.

While setting up of RegCo unit is a good move, concerns remain if it will be truly independent from rest of SGX

An ex-remisier has been charged with defrauding under the Securities and Futures Act - the first prosecution case by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the MAS-CAD (Commercial Affairs Department) joint investigation regime.

China Fibretech, whose shares remain suspended from trading since Nov 30, 2015, said on Friday it will engage a law firm to handle the 466 million yuan (S$94.6 million) damage claims made by its customers.

A former remisier has been charged with defrauding under the Securities and Futures Act - the first prosecution case by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the MAS-CAD (Commercial Affairs Department) joint investigation regime.

In a move welcomed by market watchers as long overdue, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said on Monday that it is hiving off its regulatory arm from its commercial activities.

Geo Energy Resources has added a third coal mine under its belt that will double its coal reserves to over 100 million tonnes following its latest acquisition of a mine in South Kalimantan, Indonesia for US$90 million.

In recent months, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has made significant strides in raising the governance bar to further reinforce investors' confidence in the local stock market and protect their interests.

Saying sorry and promising to minimise the downtime is not good enough. It takes more than that to restore investors' confidence.

The most worrying aspect of Thursday's stock market disruption is not that it lasted for as long as it did but that it was met with a relatively tame and subdued response from the investing public.

MSCI Inc isn't usually a name that springs to mind when one thinks of the most powerful players in the global equity market.

In a High Court trial that started yesterday, stockbroking firm AmFraser Securities is seeking to recover $1.88 million, with interest, from a former customer who racked up the trading losses in the October 2013 penny stock crash.