Singapore, 14 October 2015… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has taken civil penalty action against Mr Vincent Rajiv Louis for insider trading in the shares of PT Bank Danamon (Danamon) under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).

2   Mr Rajiv was a Managing Director at UBS AG, Indonesian Branch, and was the Head of its Investment Banking operations when the contravention occurred.  On 30 March 2012, Mr Rajiv, who resides in Indonesia, bought one million Danamon shares through his wife’s bank account in Singapore after he possessed price-sensitive and non-public information on a proposed acquisition of Danamon by DBS Bank Limited (DBS) in the course of his work.  Danamon is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

3   DBS subsequently announced the proposed acquisition on 2 April 2012 and Mr Rajiv made a profit of IDR 1,739,821,337, or $173,965 from his insider trades.

4   Mr Rajiv has admitted to contravening Section 218(2)(a) of the SFA and has paid MAS a civil penalty of $434,912 without court action.

5   Mr Lee Boon Ngiap, Assistant Managing Director (Capital Markets), MAS, said: “The civil penalty action against Mr Rajiv, who resides in Indonesia, is significant.  It reflects MAS’ firm resolve to act against anyone who contravenes our market conduct laws, whether he is based in Singapore or overseas.”

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(1) of the SFA, whenever it appears that any person has contravened any provision in Part XII of the SFA, MAS may, with the consent of the Public Prosecutor, bring an action in a court against him to seek an order for a civil penalty in respect of that contravention. If the court is satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the person has contravened a provision in this Part which resulted in his gaining a profit or avoiding a loss, the court may make an order against him for the payment of a civil penalty of a sum not exceeding:

(a)  three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided by that person, subject to a minimum of either $100,000 (if the person is a corporation) or $50,000 (if the person is not a corporation); or

(b)  (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) Notwithstanding the above, MAS may also 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.

(B) Insider Trading under Section 218(2)(a) of the SFA

Section 218(2)(a) 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 materially price-sensitive and not generally available, to subscribe for, purchase, or sell, or enter into an agreement to subscribe for, purchase or sell those securities of that corporation.

(C) Connected Person

Section 218(5) of the SFA provides that a person is connected to a corporation if, amongst others, he occupies a position that may reasonably be expected to give him access to information of a kind to which Section 218 applies by virtue of any professional or business relationship existing between himself (or his employer or a corporation of which he is an officer) and that corporation or a related corporation.

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