A study of the laws and regulations on insider trading in Malaysia / Wong Yoke Eng
Insider trading is an offence under the Securities Industry Act, 1983 (Act 280) and the Companies Act, 1965 (Act 12S) but it is difficult to prosecute in a criminal court. This thesis considers an overview of the laws on insider trading in the Securities Industry Act, 1983 when a person is cha...
Saved in:
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Thesis |
Published: |
1997
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/9155/1/A_STUDY_OF_THE_LAWS_AND_REGULATIONS.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/9155/ |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Institution: | Universiti Malaya |
Summary: | Insider trading is an offence under the
Securities Industry Act, 1983 (Act 280) and the
Companies Act, 1965 (Act 12S) but it is difficult to
prosecute in a criminal court.
This thesis considers an overview of the
laws on insider trading in the Securities Industry Act,
1983 when a person is charged as an insider and when he
deals directly, or indirectly in securibies. The
elements of actus reus and the mens rea of the person
should be clearly elaborated in the Securities Industry
Act. However in the present state of the laws, the
elements of actus reus and mens rea in the of fence of
insider trading are not adequately defined in section 89
and section 90 of the Securities Industry Act 1983.
The words "improper use" in section 89 (1)
of the Securities Industry Act 1983 is not defined in
the Securities Industry Act, nor has it been subjected
to judicicial interpretation. It is not certain how the
words should be defined from the viewpoint of the
issuer, and the investing public. The word "information"
has been referred to as specific, confidential,
unpublished, price sensitive, and if
generally known to the public, might reasonably be
expected to affect materially the price of the subject
matter of the dealing on the stock exchange under
section 89 of the Securities Industry Act 1983. Yet, for
each aforesaid words which described the nature of
information required under the Securities Industry Act
1983, such words are not defined in the Securities
Industry Act 1983, though subject to judicial
interpretation.
The most effective remedy to prevent and
minimise the incidence of insider trading by the
authorities and the self-regulatory authority ie. the
Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, is the mandatory public
disclosure of the particulars relating to dealings in
securities on the Stock Exchange. Under section 45 of
the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act, 1991
(Act 453) disclosure of particulars relating to dealings
are not permitted except with the approval of the
Minister of Finance on the ground of public interest. It
is pertinent to amend Section 45 of the Securities
Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 to enable any
person who dealt in listed transferable securities, and
was aggrieved by insider dealing, to have access to such
data on the dealings in securities.
No doubt the laws on insider trading are
contained in section 89 and section 90 of the
Securities Industry Act 1983, but the most powerful
weapon against the issuer for any offences committed
under the securities industry law is the enforcement of
the laws under section 87A of the Securities Industry
Act . 1983.
charged
public
insider
The Securities Commission has recently
Chua Seng Huat, the managing director of a
listed company, Kim Hin Industry Ber had for
trading under section 89 and 90 of the
Securities Industry Act 1983 in the Sessions Court in
Kuching in the state of Sarawak.
In the Securities Commission Report of
1996 released on the 10th June 1997, the Securities
Commission intends to push for more recognition on the
civil remedies such as restitution and disgorgement of
gains for any violations of the securities laws. |
---|