SINGAPORE: Former chief executive officer of investment holding company New Silkroutes Group (NSG) Dr Goh Jin Hian told the court on Tuesday (Sep 29) that he was unfamiliar with the market-making industry when the company engaged designated market maker GTC Group in 2018, but believed its services were “completely legal”.
The 57-year-old son of former prime minister Goh Chok Tong also described how he was very sensitive to any wrong being done because of the reputations at stake, including his own.
Dr Goh took the stand in his false trading trial for the second day on Tuesday. He is accused of conspiring with other executives from NSG, a publicly traded company, to push up the share price as the company’s business strategy was premised on a high share price.
He is contesting charges of conspiring to create a misleading appearance of NSG’s share price, and of “doing things with the purpose of creating a misleading appearance of NSG’s share price”.
Dr Goh is on trial alongside NSG’s former chief corporate officer, 55-year-old Kelvyn Oo Cheong Kwan. They are accused of engaging in the conspiracy, along with market maker Huang Yiwen and former NSG finance director William Teo Thiam Chuan, both of whom have been convicted and sentenced.
Dr Goh told the court that NSG was under “some pressure” to lift a months-long suspension on trading in its shares, which he believed were already thinly traded. Thinly traded securities are financial assets that are difficult to buy or sell without affecting their market price.
When he and NSG met Huang, the sole shareholder and director of GTC Group in February 2018, there was little time to engage a market maker before lifting the trading suspension.
Market makers refer to financial firms or individuals who keep markets liquid by offering prices at which they will buy and sell an asset. Under SGX rules, designated market makers are required to provide competitive bid and offer quotations to provide for an adequately liquid market.
He also addressed the S$60,000 (US$46,900) monthly fee GTC charged, which he considered high but agreed to after consulting his team.
“I didn’t know the market rate, I didn’t know the industry at all,” he said.
WHY NSG ENGAGED A MARKET MAKER
Dr Goh said he first met Huang in February 2018, in what was their only meeting.
Huang had been introduced to NSG through Teo, after Dr Goh asked the latter if he knew any market makers who could “support shares and prevent Shen killing the price” when the company’s trading suspension was lifted.
This referred to NSG’s former director and substantial shareholder Lee Soek Shen, whom Dr Goh believed was selling large volumes of his shares, exerting downward pressure on NSG’s share price.
Dr Goh testified that he had learnt it was possible to engage a market maker to provide liquidity for NSG’s shares and believed it to be “completely legal” to do so.
Read Full Article At Source
