Mr Tay Ming Hin was convicted on 26 August 2024 and sentenced to four weeks imprisonment for false trading in the shares of Catalist-listed KOP Limited.
Mr Tay pleaded guilty to one charge under section 197(1)(b) of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) for creating a misleading appearance with respect to the price of KOP’s shares on 79 occasions.
Between 7 August 2018 and 21 August 2019, Mr Tay maintained three margin trading accounts. The shares of KOP formed the bulk of the collateral pledged by Mr Tay in these accounts. As KOP’s share price was generally on a downward trend during this period, Mr Tay bought KOP’s shares for the purpose of pushing up the share price in order to avoid margin calls being triggered in his margin trading accounts.
His purchases caused the closing price of KOP’s shares to be higher than it would otherwise have been on 79 occasions.
Mr Tay’s conviction was a result of a joint investigation conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, following a referral by the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
