Securities Commission Annual Report 2013 Several high-profile companies, individuals charged

by **Cals** Thu 13 Mar 2014, 17:05

Securities Commission Annual Report 2013 Several high-profile companies, individuals charged

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Wei Lynn Tang & Supriya Surendran of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 13 March 2014 09:45

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) instituted criminal prosecutions, civil actions and administrative sanctions against several high-profile companies and individuals who breached various securities laws last year.

In its 2013 annual report, the SC said it had filed 34 criminal charges against six individuals, five of whom were directors of public-listed companies, for offences relating to false financial reporting.

In March last year, the SC charged Koh Tee Jin, Saipuddin Lim, Lee Han Boon and Lee Koon Huat in the Sessions Court for their respective roles in furnishing false information about Axis Incorporation Bhd’s quarterly revenues for financial years 2007 and 2008 (FY07/FY08).

The SC also filed criminal charges against two Silver Bird Group Bhd directors, Datuk Tan Han Kook and Ching Siew Chong, for reporting false revenue in relation to the company’s quarterly results for FY10 and FY11.

In January last year, the SC filed a civil suit in the High Court against a former licensed asset management company, RBTR Asset Management Bhd, and seven other defendants to claim RM13.3 million in losses for 63 investors.

In another case involving OCBC Bank (M) Bhd, the SC managed to secure RM2.475 million in payment from the bank due to the manipulation of share price of DRB-Hicom Bhd. However, OCBC Bank’s payment was without admission or denial of liability.

The SC said it had imposed RM1.35 million in administrative fines on market participants for various transgressions, ranging from poor compliance to omission of material information in corporate proposals.
Ranhill Energy and Resources Bhd and its executive director/president Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamed were among those fined for failing to disclose to the SC material changes to Ranhill’s business in relation to its proposed listing last year.

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The SC also imposed a fine on TA Securities Holdings Bhd in April last year as the company failed to implement effective internal systems to detect and report suspicious transactions relating to the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing.

Malaysian Insider editor Jahabar Sadiq was made to retract his article and tender an apology under the SC’s regulatory settlement. Jahabar had earlier written an article headlined “SC to order Sime general offer for Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O), according to sources”, which the SC found to be false. He then reached a settlement with the SC following the proposed civil action against him for making the false statement, which had induced the investing public to purchase E&O shares.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 13, 2014.