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Chief executive of No Signboard Holdings charged with share price rigging
No Signboard CEO Lim Yong Sim was charged with three counts under the Securities and Futures Act.
SINGAPORE — The executive chairman and chief executive of seafood restaurant operator No Signboard Holdings Lim Yong Sim was charged with price rigging offences on Thursday (27 July).
According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Lim, 46, was charged with three counts of Section 197(1)(b) of the Securities and Futures Act for false trading and market rigging.
The charges against him were filed after a joint investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department of SPF and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Lim had allegedly placed orders for No Signboard Holdings shares – a Catalist-listed company on the Singapore Exchange – and executed the trades through the trading account of Gugong Pte Ltd, which is the majority shareholder of No Signboard Holdings, with the purpose of pushing up or supporting the price of No Signboard Holdings shares.
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He purportedly did this in two time periods: between 19 and 29 June 2018, and between 30 November 2018 and 11 January 2019. According to the police, he was the director and majority shareholder of Gugong at the time.
Lim was also said to have placed orders for No Signboard Holdings shares on 31 January 2019 and executed trades in the company's corporate trading account to push up or support the price of the company's shares.
Board had "no knowledge" of investigations
Lim was arrested on 30 April 2019 on "reasonable suspicion" of breaching the Securities and Futures Act, according to an exchange filing made by the company. He was not charged with any offence at the time and was subsequently released on bail.
In a statement issued on Thursday (27 July), the board of directors of No Signboard Holdings said that it had "no knowledge of the ongoing investigations" relating to the charges against Lim prior to an article published by The Straits Times on the matter.
The board added that it was not notified by Lim of the existence of ongoing investigations and was not approached by the authorities in the course of the investigations, aside from the investigations previously announced by the company on 29 April 2019 and 2 May 2019.
"The NC (nominating committee) notes that the charges may impact on Mr Lim's suitability to remain as a board member and key management of the company. The company will make an update announcement and respond to the queries as soon as the NC has sufficient information to formulate a view," it added.
No Signboard Holdings currently operates two outlets in Singapore, namely Little Sheep Hot Pot in Orchard, and nosignboard Sheng Jian in Yishun. Shares of the company have been suspended from trading since 24 January 2022.
If convicted under Section 197(1)(b) of the Securities and Futures Act, offenders may be sentenced to a jail term of up to seven years, a fine not exceeding S$250,000, or both.
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