Former Genting Singapore VP admits to insider trading

GENTING Singapore's former vice president of finance, Kunye Tagi, has admitted to insider trading and has paid the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) a civil penalty of S$50,000 without court action.

This comes after a joint investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and MAS.

Ms Tagi sold 175,000 Genting shares on April 14, 2015 and April 24, 2015, while in possession of non-public price-sensitive information about the company's financial results.

On May 14, 2015, Genting announced losses for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2015.

Following the results announcement, Genting shares closed 5.9 per cent lower at S$0.955 on the next trading day.

The sale of the shares enabled Ms Tagi to avoid a loss of S$13,625.

A civil penalty action is not a criminal action and does not attract criminal sanctions. The MAS can make an agreement with the person under investigation to pay a civil penalty for contravening the Securities and Futures Act - with or without admission of liability.

The civil penalty may be up to three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided by that person as a result of the contravention, subject to a minimum of S$50,000 (if the person is not a corporation) or S$100,000 (if the person is a corporation).