Man fined $50,000 by MAS for misleading OCBC Securities

SINGAPORE - A man who misled OCBC Securities Pte Ltd (OSPL) by allowing an external party to trade using his account has been fined $50,000 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

In Oct 2007, Mr Ng Yu Jin had opened trading accounts with 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).

The offences took place between November 2007 and April 2008 when Mr Ng allowed Mr Phua to trade in the shares of Jade using the trading accounts opened with OSPL.

This was tantamount to the employment of manipulative and deceptive devices in connection with the subscription, purchase or sale of securities.

The Attorney-General's Chambers, who is representing MAS, has also commenced civil penalty court action against Mr Phua for contravening parts of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).

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.

The civil penalty may be up to three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided by that person as a result of the contravention, subject to a minimum of $50,000 (if the person is not a corporation) or $100,000 (if the person is a corporation).

Where the contravention did not result in the person gaining a profit or avoiding a loss, the civil penalty may be up to $2 million, subject to a minimum of $50,000.