China International discloses lapse in internal controls in share buybacks

Singapore

WATER services company China International on Thursday said that there has been "regrettably" a lapse in internal controls in conducting its various share buybacks from Dec 21, 2017 to Oct 16, 2018, which led the company to inadvertently breach listing rules of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The board has since conducted a review of its internal control policies and taken rectification measures to ensure that similar breaches will not occur again, it said.

On Nov 29 last year, the board received an email from the SGX informing it that the company had conducted the share buybacks via market acquisitions at prices that were more than 105 per cent of the average closing market price approved by shareholders. SGX then requested that the board and audit committees im…