UOB Kay Hian duo failed to make timely disclosure of directorships in other firms
By Goh Eng Yeow 12 September 2008
TWO brokerage dealers at high-profile brokerage UOB Kay Hian have been fined $5,000 each for failing to disclose that they were also directors and substantial shareholders of other firms.
Remisiers David Loh and Han Seng Juan - nicknamed the ‘Dream Team’ for their stock trading success and for helping China firms list here - committed the breaches between May last year and February.
Both men - they are cousins - were executive directors of UOB Kay Hian, Singapore’s largest brokerage, until July last year.
Securities and Futures regulations require that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) be told of any changes in directorships or substantial shareholdings within 14 days.
The MAS said in May that Mr Loh had made late submissions 33 times between May last year and February.
It said the submissions ‘were late by between four days and 44 months’.
Over the same period, Mr Han made 30 submissions that were late by between four days and 38 months.
Both men are overseas and could not be reached for comment.
This is believed to be the first time that the MAS has levied fines for this offence since it began publishing the regulatory actions it had taken against individuals or financial institutions four years ago.
The MAS said capital market services representatives - which include brokerage dealers and remisiers - should inform it of any changes in a timely manner.
But one source said the offences were purely an ‘oversight’ on the part of Mr Loh and Mr Han and that the companies were small and privately owned.
Many in the stockbroking industry know the two men for their Midas touch with initial public offerings (IPOs).
They made shrewd investments in mainland firms such as China Hongxing Sports, Synear Food Holdings and Pine Agritech, whose shares soared after their listings, thanks to the super bull run in 2006 and last year.
But it is not known if the pair have kept shares in these firms, which have felt the pain of plummeting stock markets.
Take China Hongxing, which hit a high of $1.42 last October after listing at eight cents in November 2005.
It has since had a spectacular free fall, plunging 78 per cent to close at 31 cents yesterday, after losing a further 3.5 cents.
Synear, which went public two years ago at 54 cents, rose to a high of $2.44 last October before crashing over the next 11 months to 34 cents yesterday.
A check with recent IPO prospectuses shows that Mr Loh and Mr Han have taken stakes in mainboard-listed Trump Dragon Distillers Holdings and Catalist-listed ArtiVision Technologies.
Their investment cost in Trump Dragon is about 18.3 cents per share. The stock ended two cents down at 32 cents yesterday.
For ArtiVision, their cost is only 0.36 cent a share. It ended one cent up at 13 cents yesterday.
The two men have also moved into property with a tie-up to build a $290 million condominium known as Kovan Residences next to Kovan MRT Station.
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‘Dream Team’ remisiers fined by MAS
UOB Kay Hian duo failed to make timely disclosure of directorships in other firms
By Goh Eng Yeow
12 September 2008
TWO brokerage dealers at high-profile brokerage UOB Kay Hian have been fined $5,000 each for failing to disclose that they were also directors and substantial shareholders of other firms.
Remisiers David Loh and Han Seng Juan - nicknamed the ‘Dream Team’ for their stock trading success and for helping China firms list here - committed the breaches between May last year and February.
Both men - they are cousins - were executive directors of UOB Kay Hian, Singapore’s largest brokerage, until July last year.
Securities and Futures regulations require that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) be told of any changes in directorships or substantial shareholdings within 14 days.
The MAS said in May that Mr Loh had made late submissions 33 times between May last year and February.
It said the submissions ‘were late by between four days and 44 months’.
Over the same period, Mr Han made 30 submissions that were late by between four days and 38 months.
Both men are overseas and could not be reached for comment.
This is believed to be the first time that the MAS has levied fines for this offence since it began publishing the regulatory actions it had taken against individuals or financial institutions four years ago.
The MAS said capital market services representatives - which include brokerage dealers and remisiers - should inform it of any changes in a timely manner.
But one source said the offences were purely an ‘oversight’ on the part of Mr Loh and Mr Han and that the companies were small and privately owned.
Many in the stockbroking industry know the two men for their Midas touch with initial public offerings (IPOs).
They made shrewd investments in mainland firms such as China Hongxing Sports, Synear Food Holdings and Pine Agritech, whose shares soared after their listings, thanks to the super bull run in 2006 and last year.
But it is not known if the pair have kept shares in these firms, which have felt the pain of plummeting stock markets.
Take China Hongxing, which hit a high of $1.42 last October after listing at eight cents in November 2005.
It has since had a spectacular free fall, plunging 78 per cent to close at 31 cents yesterday, after losing a further 3.5 cents.
Synear, which went public two years ago at 54 cents, rose to a high of $2.44 last October before crashing over the next 11 months to 34 cents yesterday.
A check with recent IPO prospectuses shows that Mr Loh and Mr Han have taken stakes in mainboard-listed Trump Dragon Distillers Holdings and Catalist-listed ArtiVision Technologies.
Their investment cost in Trump Dragon is about 18.3 cents per share. The stock ended two cents down at 32 cents yesterday.
For ArtiVision, their cost is only 0.36 cent a share. It ended one cent up at 13 cents yesterday.
The two men have also moved into property with a tie-up to build a $290 million condominium known as Kovan Residences next to Kovan MRT Station.
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