Dear Editor,

I refer to "Keeping silent will do no good" (TODAY, 20 December 2010).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) investigates all cases of suspected breaches of securities laws and regulations, regardless of the parties involved.

MAS appreciates that there may be interest in the investigations of certain cases and the outcomes. However, as a responsible regulator, we have to balance this against the need to avoid undue speculation and to ensure ongoing inquiries are not compromised. MAS therefore does not generally comment on our investigations concerning individual institutions or companies.

In dealing with regulatory breaches, MAS applies a sanctions framework which calibrates the regulatory actions taken in accordance with the severity and impact of the breach. The approach is designed to provide us with sufficient flexibility to deal with the specific circumstances of each case while incentivising market participants to cooperate with us. Regulatory actions may include supervisory warnings, private or public reprimands, composition fines, civil penalty enforcement action or referring the case for criminal investigation. While public sanctions are announced or are published on MAS' website, regulatory actions of a private nature will not be published.

This is consistent with the approach taken by regulators in other major jurisdictions.  

Angelina Fernandez (Ms)
Director (Communications)
Monetary Authority of Singapore