The requirements imposed by the SGX RegCo included prohibiting UOB Kay Hian from acting as an issue manager or as a full sponsor for initial public offerings (IPOs) on SGX’s Mainboard and Catalist board and reverse takeover (RTO) submissions. This excluded submissions where UOB Kay Hian agreed to act as an issue manager or full sponsor before Aug 31, 2022.
The requirements came after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced, on Aug 31, 2022, that it imposed a $375,000 composition penalty on the brokerage for the same reasons.
In its Oct 17, SGX RegCo said that the brokerage has taken “remedial action” to strengthen its policies and procedures for IPO and RTO transactions. This includes an “enhanced oversight” on the activities made by UOB Kay Hian’s corporate finance department.
Shares in UOB Kay Hian closed 1 cent higher or 0.63% up at $1.59 on Oct 17.
