SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a S$350,000 (US$255,000) civil penalty on a man for false and unauthorised trading which inflated the price of two stocks.
This follows a joint investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department and MAS after a referral by the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo), Singapore’s central bank and the police said in a joint press release on Monday (Jan 13).
Gui Boon Sui, also known as Goi Chon Yan, bought shares in two Singapore Exchange-listed (SGX) companies – Hiap Hoe Limited (HHL) and Hotel Grand Central Limited (HGC) – between December 2018 and August 2022.
This was done “for the purpose of artificially inflating the shares’ closing prices”, the authorities said.
Gui is listed as chairman on the website of steel solution provider Regency Steel Asia, which is a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsui.
According to Hiap Hoe’s 2023 annual report, Mr Gui is a substantial shareholder in the company.
As of Mar 18, 2024, he held a direct interest of 0.22 per cent (or 1,041,600 shares) and deemed interest of 5.5 per cent (or 25,876,950 shares) in HHL.
Gui “artificially inflated the closing prices of HHL and HGC shares on 554 days and 56 days respectively in the said period”, MAS added.
“In addition to carrying out such trades in his own trading accounts, Mr Gui used trading accounts belonging to two of his employees to conduct unauthorised purchases of HHL and HGC shares for the same purpose.”
According to their websites, HHL is a regional real estate group while HGC owns and operates hotels and properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Gui has since admitted to contravening false and unauthorised trading rules under the Securities and Futures Act, and will pay MAS the civil penalty without court action.
He has also voluntarily given an undertaking not to be a company director or be involved in the management of a company for two years.
A civil penalty action is not a criminal action and does not attract criminal sanctions. The civil penalty regime, which MAS said was designed to complement criminal sanctions and provide a nuanced approach to combat market misconduct, became operational at the start of 2004.
Shares of HHL and HGC closed largely flat on Monday at S$0.56 and S$0.715 respectively.
