FINANCIAL CRIMES IN SINGAPORE Hamidul Haq LLB (Hons) National University of Singapore LLM (Corp & Comm), University College London Partner, Rajah & Tann LLP Thong Chee Kun LLB (Hons) London Solicitor, England & Wales (Non-practising) Partner, Rajah & Tann LLP Istyana Ibrahim LLB (Hons) National University of Singapore Associate, Rajah & Tann LLP LexisNexis Singapore Malaysia Hong Kong 2013
Foreword. Preface Table of Cases Table of Statutes Table of Subsidiary Legislation Table of Conventions ix xi xvii xxv xxv// xxix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Insider Trading in Singapore 11 A Genesis of insider trading law in Singapore 12 B Theoretical basis for insider trading law 14 C Elements of insider trading under the SFA 16 D Information covered by the offence 21 E Standard of proof required for insider trading 32 F Secondary offence/breaches 32 G Defences and exceptions 33 H The Mythical Window Period 38 I Penalties 39 J Contravention of the Insider Trading Provisions 39 K Case Review 41 L Conclusion 54 Chapter 3 Other Forms of Market Abuse under Part XII of the Securities and Futures Act) 57 A Introduction 58 B Market Rigging 60 C Purpose or objective of the prohibition under s 197 of the SFA 62 D Section 197(1) of the SFA and the issue of mens rea 64 E The third limb of the old s 197(1) of the SFA - ie 'doing anything that is likely to create such a false or misleading appearance' 65 F The first limb of the olons 197(1) of the SFA - ie 'creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in, the market for or the price of securitis' 67 xiii
G Law Reform 68 H Penalties 69 I What constitutes an intention to create a false or misleading appearance? 71 J Will a 197(1 A) offence under the 'likely to create' limb be treated as less aggravating than one that actually 'creates'? 76 K Case Review 78 L Securities market manipulation under Section 198 of the SFA 90 M Fraudulently inducing persons to deal in securities under s 200 of the SFA 91 N False or misleading statements under s 199 of the SFA... 91 0 Circulation or dissemination of price-sensitive information or statements concerning illegal securities transactions Section 202 of the SFA 107 P Failing to make continuous disclosure - Section 203 of the SFA 108 Q Employment of manipulative and deceptive devices - section 201 of the SFA 117 R Investigation framework for market misconduct - transfer of evidence between the CAD of the Singapore Police Force and MAS 132 S Remedies provided by the SFA 132 T Other remedies 137 U Extra-territorial application of the SFA 138 V Conclusion 140 Chapter 4 Corruption 141 A Introduction 142 B Overview of corruption law in Singapore 143 C Elements of Corruption 149 D Corporate liability 155 E Liability of directors and officers of the company 156 F Defences 157 G Penalties 157 H Evidential Issues 158 1 Extra-territorial jurisdiction, the AG's consent to prosecute and other matters 160 J Whistleblowing legislation 167 xiv
K Recent sentencing trends 169 L International efforts to fight corruption 172 M A Comparison between the PCA, the UK Bribery Act 2010 and the US FCPA 173 N Conclusion 180 Chapter 5 Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Financing 181 A Introduction 182 B Singapore's legal approach to AML 183 C The money-laundering offences 186 D Cross Border Movements of Physical Currency and Bearer Negotiable Instruments 214 E Duty to co-operate with law enforcement agencies 216 F Enforcement 217 G FATF mutual evaluation on AML & CFT 217 Chapter 6 Other Financial Crimes 221 A Offences under the Penal Code 222 B Offences under the Companies Act 265 C Tax crimes 296 D Other Miscellaneous Offences 312 Chapter 7 International Issues and Asset Forfeiture 325 A Introduction 327 B Relevant government agencies 328 C Seizure orders, production orders, restraint orders, etc... 329 D Confiscation orders and disposal of property 341 E Cross-Border Assistance in Tax Matters 348 F Case studies 358 G Extradition of persons accused of financial crimes 359 H Money-laundering: the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 388 I Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering 391 J Bribery: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 391 K Information sharing by the Singapore Police Force 392 L Recent trends and attitudes of the authorities 392 XV
Chapter 8 Regulatory Investigations and Preventing and/or Investigating Fraud in The Workplace 395 A Introduction 395 B Prevention 396 C Investigation 398 D Involving the police and criminal investigations 399 E Extraterritorial legislation 402 F Using private investigators 402 G How should companies respond to unsolicited regulatory or criminal investigations? 402 Index 405 xvi