The SGX-ST Listings Disciplinary Committee has publicly reprimanded Wu Xinhua, the former executive chairman and CEO of Raffles Infrastructure Holdings LUY for breaching several Mainboard rules.
Wu was said to have breached Mainboard rule 703(4) and rule 1402(5) when the company disclosed bank balances which were non-factual, false and misleading in its announcements and annual reports between November 2015 and August 2018. Raffles Infrastructure had also announced, between November 2015 and November 2017, that it received claims and made compensation for, which were also found to be non-factual, false and misleading.
Finally, the company said that it had a fixed deposit account with the Agricultural Bank of China in its announcements dated April 2015 to August 2018, which were, again, not factual, false and misleading.
Rule 703(4) requires an issuer to disclose information that is necessary to prevent or avoid the “establishment of a false market” in its securities. Rule 1402(5)
Wu was also accused of breaching rule 719(1), where an issuer should have “adequate and effective” systems of internal controls and risk management systems, by causing the company to fail to have a “robust and effective” system of internal controls, addressing financial, operational and compliance risks.
Rule 210(5)(b) was also found to be in breach when Wu failed to demonstrate the “character and integrity” expected of a director of a listed issuer.
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Issuers prohibited from appointing or reappointing Wu as director or executive officer
In addition to the public reprimand, the listings disciplinary committee has issued an order to ban any issuer from appointing or reappointing Wu as a director, executive officer, or both, for three years. The prohibition starts from May 31.
“The maximum sanctions that the listings disciplinary committee is empowered to impose have been applied in light of the severity of the misrepresentations, which amounted to a deliberate fraud on the market, and the defendant’s lack of cooperation during investigations,” says the SGX-ST in its May 31 statement.
Shares in Raffles Infrastructure last traded at 3.5 cents.
