Monday April 25, 2011
PETALING JAYA: Two corporate personalities who recently settled with the Securities Commission (SC) over alleged trading irregularities in Nexnews shares said that they had done nothing wrong and only settled in order not to prolong the issue and get on with their lives.
The two – former merchant banker Heah Sieu Lay and Genting Bhd chief operating officer Tan Kong Han – said that they knew very well what constituted insider trading and were not engaged in it.
“I can categorically say that I never engaged in insider trading,” Heah told StarBiz.
“I am a lawyer and I know what insider trading is,” Tan said, “It was a market tip.”
In an update on enforcement actions posted on its website, the SC had said it had entered into separate settlement agreements last month with Heah, Tan and another person, without admission of liability by the trio over the trading of Nexnews shares.
These settlements followed the SC’s proposed civil proceedings under Section 89E and 90(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983.
Describing the events leading up to his trades in Nexnews, Tan said that he received a tip from his ex-colleague that there may be a general offer for Nexnews while he was having lunch. He passed on the tip to Heah later the same day.
Heah said they sought guidance from friends and people in the industry and almost all of them advised them to settle because of convenience, especially since the settlement was without admission of liability.
Also, the settlement would give him peace of mind.
“We agreed to the statement from the SC but we told the SC we did nothing wrong. Settling would be the least intrusive (on my life). The rationale for settling was simply to make it (the case) go away,” Heah added.
Tan said that going to court would be a major disruption to his work commitments.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/25/business/8545565&sec=business
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