A state investment agency managing Singapore's massive foreign reserves has suspended three officers involved in an insider trading case in Japan. The suspensions without pay were in addition to fines totalling 715,000 Singapore dollars (436,000 US) earlier slapped on the three staffers of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC).
The GIC said in a statement issued late Friday that the suspensions would last from three to six months, with effect from December 1. The three have also been relieved of all responsibilities for Japanese financial markets.
The suspensions were announced more than one month after the case was made public. The GIC, a highly secretive agency, manages over 100 billion US dollars of the city-state's reserves.
The fines imposed on the three GIC officers led by Lim Kee Chong, previously head of Japan equities, fell short of criminal action.
The case involved shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFG) listed on Japanese stock exchanges.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched an investigation after being alerted by Japanese financial watchdogs.
It found that in February 2003, the three GIC employees used "non-public material price sensitive information" concerning a proposed offering of convertible preferred shares by SMFG.
SMFG share prices fell after the announcement of the proposed offering and the sale of SMFG shares held by GIC resulted in gains, through losses avoided, of about 710,000 dollars for the GIC, the MAS found.
The gains were "not retained by the GIC employees concerned," the MAS added.
In addition to investing Singapore's vast foreign reserves in financial markets, GIC also purchases prime real estate in leading global capitals.
The republic's other state investment arm is Temasek Holdings, which controls companies like Singapore Airlines and Singapore Telecommunications.
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