Ocean Sky crash: a lesson for SGX

IF anyone wanted an example of a stockmarket incident that perfectly highlights the deficiencies in existing surveillance arrangements and one that is crying out for greater official scrutiny all rolled into one, they need look no further than the crash in Ocean Sky International (OSI) shares on Wednesday.

Retail brokers and small investors are up in arms at the handling of this affair, and although these parties are not averse to occasional exaggeration, a close and objective examination of the sequence of events indicates their concerns this time are justified.

Offshore marine company Ezion Holdings had announced its intention to take over civil engineering/ property management firm OSI last September at 10.8 cents per share - an announcement that sent OSI's shares shooting up from around 20 cents the month before the announcement to a high of 45 cents shortly after.