Published August 27, 2009

Manager fined for insider trading

MAS acts under its civil penalty regime

By CHEW XIANG
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A FINANCE manager of Singapore-listed Datapulse Technology has been fined $50,000 for insider trading, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday.

MAS took action under its civil penalty regime, which was introduced in 2004 as an alternative to criminal prosecution.

It said Toh Leng Poh bought 690,000 Datapulse shares between March and September 2007 while in possession of price-sensitive information relating to the company's financial results for the second, third and fourth quarters of the 2007 financial year. As a result, he made a profit of $10,120.

That contravened Section 218(2)(a) of the Securities and Futures Act, which prohibits a person in possession of confidential material price-sensitive information from trading shares based on that information.

Mr Toh admitted to civil penalty liability and will pay a civil penalty of $50,000 without court action, MAS said, adding that he cooperated fully during the investigation. The matter was referred to MAS by the Singapore Exchange.

This is the 18th enforcement action taken since 2004. Two lawsuits have also been filed. A former WBL Corp executive was sued for insider trading earlier this year.

Another court case, involving a US$1.26 billion Malaysian fund, kicks off today in the High Court.

The fund, Pheim Asset Management, and its chief executive Tan Chong Koay have been sued by MAS for alleged false trading in United Envirotech shares in late 2004.