Mexter: new major shareholder (2)

Article in The Edge:

Mexter partners with UM spin-off to commercialise e-health solution

"This is Mexter’s first venture since Dr Lim Yin Chow emerged as a major shareholder in the company via his vehicle, LYC Capital Sdn Bhd."

"Dr" Lim Yin Chow?

For more background, please read here, here and here.

Mexter: new major shareholder

Interesting development in Mexter Technology, where Lim Yin Chow announced his substantial shareholding of 28%. The share shot up and the company received subsequently an "UMA" (Unusual Market Activity) query.

Lim featured before in this blog in a rather bad way, he was fined and reprimanded by Bursa because he "submitted false qualification as a  degree holder of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS degree) at the University of Hong Kong in 1992 in various announcements and annual reports of companies.".

Fake degrees at listed companies? (4)

Malaysian Insider wrote an article:

"KUB group CEO resigns amid allegations of falsified academic qualification".

A snippet:


In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, KUB said Zainal Abidin, 52, has submitted his resignation, citing personal reasons, and the board of directors has accepted it. He will serve a three-month notice period under the terms of his contract. According to KUB, a statement was made by a shareholder of the group at its annual general meeting on June 16, 2015 on the alleged falsification of Zainal Abidin's academic qualification.

"The (Zainal Abidin's) resignation was submitted before the board of directors was able to establish a Board Executive Committee to look into the allegations made by the said shareholder," said KUB. "In light of the said resignation, the board has resolved that it serves no purpose to continue with the investigation," it added.


It is good that on the question "Whether there are any matters that need to be brought to the attention of shareholders" the answer "Yes" was given in the Bursa announcement, plus a subsequent explanation of the issue at hand, good transparency.

The relevant Bursa announcement can be found here.

But I don't agree though that the board decided that it serves no purpose to continue the investigation. I think they should investigate, both regarding the allegations regarding the qualifications of the CEO and about the hiring process by the responsible department of KUB.

In the previous case written in this blog, the director had already resigned from the three listed companies involved, but Bursa did (correctly) follow up on the complaint. I assume Bursa will do the same in this case.

Fake degrees at listed companies? (3)

Received a helpful tip about my post of yesterday regarding Lim Yin Chow.

First of all an example of the disclosure in the 2012 annual report (page 5) of Rev Asia:

Bursa has established that "Dr" Lim has not graduated from the University of Hong Kong. That is bad.

But more worrisome is that he is involved in the healthcare business where his "doctors" title must have carried even more weight.

One example can be found in an interview in The Edge (dated November 29, 2009), listed on the website of HSC (it can also be found on the website of The Edge).

One snippet:

"Dr Lim: We saw how things work there, and wanted to try them here. Over here, most hospitals are opened by businessmen. We're medical people, so we know what the market or patient wants."

The question that remains: is a reprimand and fine from Bursa really enough?

Fake degrees at listed companies? (2)

Media release from Bursa Malaysia:


Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (635998-W) (Bursa Malaysia Securities) has publicly reprimanded and imposed a fine of RM30,000 on Lim Yin Chow, a former Non-Executive Director of Stemlife Berhad (STEMLFE), Signature International Berhad (SIGN) and Rev Asia Berhad (REV) for breaches of paragraphs / Rules 2.18(1)(a) and (c) and 16.13(a) of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Main Market Listing Requirements (Main LR) / ACE Market Listing Requirements (ACE LR).

Paragraph / Rule 2.18(1)(a) and (c) of the Main LR / ACE LR states, amongst others, that a listed issuer/corporation or a director of a listed issuer/corporation must ensure that any statement, information or document presented, submitted or disclosed pursuant to the Main LR / ACE LR must be clear, unambiguous and accurate as well as not false or misleading.

Paragraph / Rule 16.13(a) of the Main LR / ACE LR states that a director of a listed issuer/corporation must not cause a breach of the Main LR / ACE LR by such listed issuer/corporation.

Lim Yin Chow had submitted and/or caused STEMLFE, SIGN and REV to submit inaccurate and false / misleading statements pertaining to his qualification as a holder of degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS degree) at the University of Hong Kong in 1992 (False Statements) in various announcements and annual reports of the companies.


I wrote almost exactly three years ago:

"I did a few Google searches with the above mentioned universities, and did indeed get quite a few hits of directors of listed Malaysian companies.  Will Bursa Malaysia or any of the listed companies take action?"

I haven't heard any news from that. It seems Bursa only takes action when it receives a tip off (from the above press release): "arising from a complaint to Bursa Securities and upon investigation".

That is disappointing, Bursa should be more proactive. With a list of diploma mills and Google search they should be able to catch more people.

Let the cat out of the bag

What do the following names have in common?

• Colby Nolan
• George
• Henrietta
• Kitty O'Malley
• Oliver Greenhalgh
• Oreo Collins
• Tobias F. Schaeffer
• Zoe D. Katze
• Lulu
• Molly
• Pete
• Sassafras Herbert
• Sonny
• Wally

The answer is two things, as far as I am aware:

• First of all they are all the proud owners of degrees;
• And secondly, they are all animals.

For more background about their astonishing achievements, please read the articles in Wikipedia and Slate.


To return to the field of investing, a relevant question could be: "if animals can attain degrees (and some even a MBA), can they also be a successful stock picker?".

And the answer to that question should be positive, according to this article in The Observer:

"The Observer's panel of stock-picking professionals has been undone in our 2012 investment challenge by a ginger feline called Orlando who spent time paw-ing over the FT.

The Observer portfolio challenge pitted professionals Justin Urquhart Stewart of wealth managers Seven Investment Management, Paul Kavanagh of stockbrokers Killick & Co, and Schroders fund manager Andy Brough against students from John Warner School in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire – and Orlando.

Each team invested a notional £5,000 in five companies from the FTSE All-Share index at the start of the year. After every three months, they could exchange any stocks, replacing them with others from the index.

By the end of September the professionals had generated £497 of profit compared with £292 managed by Orlando. But an unexpected turnaround in the final quarter has resulted in the cat's portfolio increasing by an average of 4.2% to end the year at £5,542.60, compared with the professionals' £5,176.60.

While the professionals used their decades of investment knowledge and traditional stock-picking methods, the cat selected stocks by throwing his favourite toy mouse on a grid of numbers allocated to different companies."

Fake degrees at listed companies?

David Webb has written many articles about directors of Hong Kong listed companies with fake degrees.

I expected the situation in Malaysia to be the same, if not worse.

My eye fell on ‘Tan Sris’ involved in buying fake degrees, say cops, an article in MalaysiaKini. Some excerpts:

Eminent members of society, some of whom hold ‘Tan Sri’ titles, have been implicated in buying fake degrees from a syndicate recently brought down by the Selangor police commercial crimes investigation department (CCID).

“Many of those involved are those with status in society,” Selangor Chief Police Officer Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said.

Tun Hisan said those who bought the degrees “know very well” that they were purchasing fake degrees and if they used those documents to get jobs or for whatever purpose, it involved the “element of fraud”.

As to whether those who purchased the fake degrees would also be charged, the Selangor CPO said police were considering that possibility.

Some of the universities the syndicate used for the fake degrees included University of Rockhampton (USA), Harvey International University (USA), Cannington Brook University (UK) and Glastonbury University (UK).

Some of the universities “only exist in cyberspace”, while others are real institutions but with no Malaysian operations or links at all.

Tun Hisan urged parents whose children had degrees from the Jakri Education Group, or employers with staff who had the same credentials, to verify their qualifications.

I did a few Google searches with the above mentioned universities, and did indeed get quite a few hits of directors of listed Malaysian companies.

Will Bursa Malaysia or any of the listed companies take action?