From the website of the Securities Commission:
Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has filed a civil suit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court against seven individuals for insider trading involving the shares of Worldwide Holdings Bhd (Worldwide), a company previously listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Datin Paduka Low Siew Moi, Tan Cheng Teik, Liaw Huat Hin, Hoi Main Seng, Chua Keng Hong, Datuk Ter Leong Yap, and Ter Leong Hing were alleged to have been involved in the insider trading of Worldwide shares between 2006 and 2007.
In the suit filed on 18 May 2017, SC claimed that Low had communicated material non-public information, namely the proposed privatisation of Worldwide, which was undertaken by Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS), to Tan, Liaw, Hoi, Chua, and Ter Leong Yap, in breach of section 89E(3)(a) of the Securities Industry Act 1983. Low was the deputy general manager in PKNS and a director of Worldwide at the material time.
SC also alleged that Ter Leong Yap and Tan had further communicated the said information to Ter Leong Hing, and also Hoi and Liaw respectively. SC claimed that Tan, Chua, Hoi, Liaw and Ter Leong Hing breached section 89E(2)(a) of the SIA when they purchased Worldwide shares while in possession of the material non-public information.
SC is seeking a disgorgement of three times the profits earned by the defendants as a result of the insider trading and a civil penalty of RM1 million from each of the defendants.
Good that the SC chases insider trading activities, which have been rampant in Malaysia. Many significant corporate announcements have been preceded by a surge in volume and price, indicating that some participants were (most likely) privy to confidential information.
In a previous posting on this subject I wrote:
" .... the cases seem all rather old, the alleged events often took place 6-8 years ago. Does it really need to take such a long time before somebody can be charged?"
May be I was too mild, because the above case was 10-11 years old.
There is another interesting issue though, according to an article of The Malay Mail:
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced today it was cooperating with the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) to fight graft, the same day the Securities Commission (SC) named NCCIM’s president as one of seven it was suing for insider trading.
The MACC said it has established a “network of cooperation” with NCCIM to fight corruption and also abuse of power, following a meeting between top officials from both the agency and the chambers.
“Businessmen play an important role in spurring our economic growth. The cooperation can help increase business activities and strengthen economic stability,” MACC said in a statement.
The chambers’ representatives were led by its president, Datuk Ter Leong Yap, who is also founder and executive chairman of Sunsuria Berhad, a property developer that is reportedly planning to launch projects with a total gross development value of RM1.55 billion this year.
However, SC announced today that it has filed a civil suit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on May 18 against Ter and six others for insider trading involving the shares of Worldwide Holdings Bhd ― a company engaged in property environmental services, investment holding and medical device manufacturing businesses ― between 2006 and 2007.
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