In two separate cases, Mr Tan Chun Yong (Mr Tan) and Mr Xie Jianfeng (Mr Xie) were convicted and sentenced on 19 May 2026 to 10 weeks’ imprisonment
Mr Tan: Conviction for abetting false trading, and unauthorised trading
2 Between 4 November 2014 and 8 September 2015, Mr Tan, then a trading representative with OCBC Securities Pte Ltd, intentionally aided Mr Tang Boon Hai (Mr Tang) to create a false appearance of active trading in KTL shares. He did so by enabling Mr Tang to place orders for KTL shares in six trading accounts, even though Mr Tang was not authorised by the brokerage firm to operate these accounts. In doing so, Mr Tan also deceived the brokerage firm that the orders and trades in KTL shares were made by the respective accountholders, when in fact the orders and trades were made by Mr Tang.
3 Following a 28-day trial, Mr Tan was found guilty by the court on one charge for intentionally aiding in the false trading of KTL shares and six charges for engaging in a practice that was likely to operate as a deception on the brokerage firm
4 Mr Tang was separately convicted for conspiring to conduct false trading unauthorised trading and dishonestly receiving stolen property offences on 18 April 2023 and was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.
Mr Xie: Conviction for insider trading
5 Mr Xie was at the material time the General Manager of the Finance Department of Sasseur Commercial Management Group Co., Ltd, a related corporation of Sasseur Asset Management Pte Ltd (SAMPL). SAMPL was the manager of Sasseur REIT. On 18 and 22 February 2021, he purchased Sasseur REIT units while in possession of material non-public information relating to Sasseur REIT’s FY2020 financial results which he received in his course of work. After the announcement of the results on 26 February 2021, Mr Xie sold the units he had purchased, earning a profit of around $223,572.68. Additionally, between 18 March 2020 and 29 January 2021, Mr Xie executed trades in Sasseur REIT units on behalf of former colleagues, without properly disclosing the beneficial ownership of the trades to CGS-CIMB Securities Pte Ltd (“the Unauthorised Trades”).
6 Mr Xie pleaded guilty and was convicted on one charge of insider trading
7 Both cases were jointly investigated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, following a referral from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd and Singapore Exchange Regulation Private Limited respectively.
Additional Information
(A) Section 197(1)(a) of the SFA (Chapter 289, 2006 Rev. Ed.)
Section 197(1)(a) of the SFA prohibits a person from doing any thing, cause any thing to be done or engage in any course of conduct, if his purpose, or any of his purposes, for doing that thing, causing that thing to be done or engaging in that course of conduct, as the case may be, is to create a false or misleading appearance of active trading in any securities on a securities market.
(B) Section 218(2)(a)(ii) of the SFA (Chapter 289, 2006 Rev. Ed.)
Section 218(2)(a)(ii) prohibits a person who is in possession of materially price-sensitive information concerning a corporation that is the trustee or manager of a collective investment scheme (to which he is connected), which he knows or ought to know is materially price-sensitive and not generally available, from subscribing for, purchasing, selling, or entering into an agreement to subscribe for, purchase or sell those securities of that corporation.
(C) Section 201(b) of the SFA (Chapter 289, 2006 Rev. Ed.)
Section 201(b) of the SFA prohibits a person from directly or indirectly, in connection with the subscription, purchase or sale of any securities engage in any act, practice or course of business which operates as a fraud or deception, or is likely to operate as a fraud or deception, upon any person.
(D) Section 204(1) of the SFA (Chapter 289, 2006 Rev. Ed.)
Under section 204(1) of the SFA, any person who contravenes Division 1 of Part XII SFA (which includes sections 197(1)(a) and 201(b)) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to both.
(E) Section 109 of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Rev. Ed.)
Under section 109 of the PC, whoever abets any offence shall, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, and no express provision is made by the PC for the punishment of such abetment, be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.
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[1] Mr Tan has appealed against his conviction and sentence.
[2] Under section 197(1)(a) of the SFA read with section 109 of the Penal Code and section 204(1)(b) of the SFA.
[3] Under section 218(2)(a)(ii) of the SFA
[4] Under section 218(2)(a)(ii) and section 201(b) of the SFA respectively.
