Clifford Chance

Steady strengthening of the insider trading regime in Singapore

1 October 2015

A series of recent developments have highlighted the Courts' and regulators' continued commitment to creating a more robust securities market in Singapore.

The efforts to strengthen the insider trading regime in Singapore are multifaceted and include not only legislative changes but strengthened powers of investigation and stiffer penalties imposed, as reflected in: (i) the joint MAS' and CAD's investigation of market misconduct offences; (ii) the MAS' Consultation Paper dated 24 August 2015 in relation to proposed amendments to the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289); (iii) a recent judgment of the Singapore District Court in the prosecution of the former director of Jade Technologies Holdings Ltd, where the highest custodial sentence to date (eight years nine months) was imposed for insider dealing offences; and (iv) recent civil penalty enforcement cases.

This briefing summarises these recent developments and provides some key observations on the insider trading regime in Singapore.

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