Propriety trader guilty of price manipulation

SINGAPORE: A proprietary trader pleaded guilty on Monday to manipulating the price of CapitaMall warrants traded on the Singapore Exchange.


Forty-four-year-old Sim Tee Yang, who is from CIMB-GK Securities, admitted to four charges while eight remaining ones will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Sim, who has been a proprietary trader since 1994, committed the offence between May and August 2005.

But in December 2005, the Commercial Affairs Department received information that Sim may have manipulated CapitaMall Trust units and CapitaMall warrants.

He had simultaneously traded with them even though he knew that the share price of one would be affected by the other.

The court heard that even though Sim lost nearly S$8,700 on the trading of CapitaMall Trust units, he made more than S$25,000 when he traded with CapitaMall warrants.

He netted a profit of more than S$16,000 in the process.

Sim can be jailed up to seven years for each charge, fined a maximum of S$250,000 or both.

-CNA/wk