Ex-investment banker jailed, fined for insider trading

PETALING JAYA: Former senior manager of CIMB Investment Bank Bhd Lim Bun Hwa has been sentenced to six months jails and fined RM1 million after being convicted for insider trading.
The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said in a statement today that the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had convicted Bun Hwa after he pleaded guilty to five charges of insider trading in the shares of PacificMas Bhd.
Bun Hwa, 42, had acquired 145,000 units of PacificMas shares while in possession of inside information between Dec 18 and 31, 2007, when he was a senior manager in the corporate finance department of the bank.
The inside information referred to in the charges is related to the proposed takeover offer of PacificMas by Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), which was announced to Bursa Malaysia on Jan 4, 2008.

“At the material time, CIMB had been engaged by OCBC to advise it on the proposed takeover. Bun Hwa had pleaded guilty following a plea bargaining application under Section 172C of the Criminal Procedure Code,” said SC.
Last year, Bun Hwa was charged together with his brother Lim Boon Cheng and Ewe Lay Peng with respect to the insider trading activities in this case. Ewe was also a senior manager in the corporate finance department of CIMB.
Following the plea of guilt by Bun Hwa, the charges against Boon Cheng were withdrawn. The court has fixed Oct 11 for trial dates to be fixed in the case involving Ewe.