Indian-origin man barred for unauthorised trading in S'pore

An Indian-origin man was today barred from trading for seven years by Singapore's de-facto central bank for unauthorised share dealings and misappropriating over USD 59,000 from a customer.
Prem Hirubalan was barred by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)for seven years from performing any regulated activity, taking part in the management, acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market services firm under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).
He was also barred for seven years from providing financial advisory services, acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act, The Straits Times reported.

The two prohibition orders took effect from today.
Hirubalan, who was a trader with the OCBC Securities from May 2010 to May 2011,was convicted on June 24 last year of charges under section 201(b) of the SFA and section 406 of the Penal Code for the offences.
He was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment on August 8 last year. During his employment with the OCBC Securities, Hirubalan conducted unauthorised share trades in the trading accounts of three customers and misappropriated a sum of around Singaporean Dollars 81,000 (USD 59,271) from one of these customers.
"MAS expects all finance professionals to act honestly and with integrity. To protect consumers from fraudulent and dishonest behaviour by representatives, MAS will not hesitate to bar any individuals who do not meet fit and proper criteria from the financial industry," Lee Boon Ngiap, assistant managing director (Capital Markets) at MAS, said.