Ex-CIMB banker fined S$180,000 for insider trading

SINGAPORE: Alan Tay Yeow Kee, a former CIMB Group Holdings Bhd banker, admitted to insider trading on two stocks before the firms received takeover offers.

Tay pleaded guilty to trading on price-sensitive information in a court yesterday and was fined S$180,000 (RM554,905).

He bought shares in Qualitas Medical Group Ltd and welding products supplier Leeden Ltd in 2011 before the information he had was publicly available.

CIMB was the financial adviser in both deals, said prosecutor Joel Chen in court.

The companies were delisted from Singapore’s stock exchange after being acquired.

Tay, who was an associate director in the corporate client solutions department at CIMB, was also accused of encouraging Eddy Cheng Hong Wee to buy the stocks, according to charge sheets when the men were indicted last year.

The men split profits of about S$60,000, he said.

Charges against Cheng were dropped, though Chen declined to say why.

Singapore has been clamping down on market misconduct to protect its image as a financial hub. Bloomberg