It’s fine to fine Noble, but maybe nobler to pass it on

SHAREHOLDERS of Noble Group who lost money because of the commodities company’s misleading disclosures may find little solace in justice, even after investigations led to penalties on the company and its former directors and auditors.

Without practical mechanisms that help victims of financial market malfeasance recover their losses, those investors can only lick their wounds and hope to do better next time – if they were not already wiped out the first time.

Singapore needs to create injury compensation avenues for such victims. Doing so improves equity in our financial system, because large numbers of retail investors are often hurt when wrongdoing occurs in a publicly listed company. It also de-risks investments in our financial markets, since investors have a better chance of recovering some losses when they are misled.