Singapore, 19 November 2013… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has taken civil penalty action against Mr Ng Yu Jin for contravening section 201(b) of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), which prohibits the employment of manipulative and deceptive devices in connection with the subscription, purchase or sale of securities.
2 In October 2007, Mr Ng opened trading accounts with OCBC Securities Pte Ltd (OSPL) for the benefit of Mr Norman Phua Chun Han. Between January and April 2008, Mr Phua was the assistant to Mr Anthony Soh Guan Cheow, then the Chief Executive Officer of Jade Technologies Ltd (Jade). Between November 2007 and April 2008, Mr Ng allowed Mr Phua to trade in the shares of Jade using the trading accounts opened with OSPL. This was a contravention of section 201(b) of the SFA as Mr Ng’s dealings with OSPL had led OPSL to believe that the accounts were opened and operated for Mr Ng’s benefit.
3 Mr Ng has admitted to contravening section 201(b) of the SFA and has paid a civil penalty of $50,000 to MAS without court action.
4 MAS has also commenced civil penalty court action against Mr Phua for contravening sections 201(b) and 218(2) of the SFA. The Attorney-General’s Chambers is representing MAS for this purpose.
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Notes to Editor
(A) The civil penalty regime
(i) A civil penalty action is not a criminal action and does not attract criminal sanctions. The civil penalty regime, designed to complement criminal sanctions and provide a nuanced approach to combat market misconduct, became operational at the beginning of 2004.
(ii) Under section 232 of the SFA, MAS may enter into agreements with any person for that person to pay, with or without admission of liability, a civil penalty for a contravention of any provision of Part XII of the SFA, of a sum not exceeding
- three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided by that person, subject to a minimum of either $50,000 (if the person is not a corporation) or $100,000 (if the person is a corporation); or
- (where the contravention has not resulted in the person gaining a profit or avoiding a loss) $2 million, subject to a minimum of $50,000.
(iii) In determining the quantum of civil penalties to seek in such actions, MAS takes into consideration all facts and circumstances relating to the contravention and the contravening person.
(B) Section 201(b) of the SFA
Under section 201(b) of the SFA, no person shall, directly or indirectly, in connection with the subscription, purchase or sale of any securities engage in any act, practice or course of business which operates as a fraud or deception, or is likely to operate as a fraud or deception, upon any person.
(C) Section 218(2) of the SFA
Section 218(2) of the SFA prohibits a person who is in possession of materially price-sensitive information concerning a corporation (to which he is connected), which he knows is not generally available and materially price-sensitive, from subscribing for, purchasing or selling, or entering into an agreement to subscribe for, purchase or sell those securities of that corporation; or from procuring another person to subscribe for, purchase or sell, or to enter into an agreement to subscribe for, purchase or sell those securities of that corporation.