Dear readers, I read a news article on Monday (3 Mar 25) that the conspirators of the market manipulation in 2013 appealed their convictions and sentences.
The aforementioned market manipulation was none other than the famous (or should I say infamous) penny stock saga that grabbed the Singapore stock market’s and investors’ attention in 2013.
The penny stock saga involved 3 penny stock counters called Blumont, Asiasons and LionGold. I still recalled the day when I saw the news headline almost live on the S$8 billion wipe-off from the capitalisation of these 3 stocks on TV from the stock price plunge of these three counters. Prior to the wipe-off, the stock price built up in these 3 stocks were such that the market capitalisation of each surpassed that of some of the more popular blue-chip stocks on SGX.
Fast forward to today, of the 3 stocks, only Blumont is still listed and the company has its name changed to Southern Archipelago.
This news of the above appeal came just 2 weeks after the announcements of the Review Committee on the Singapore stock markets announced its proposed measures and I believe this is a poignant reminder for the Singapore stocks markets and the review committee on our local bourse that more measures should be in place to prevent such sagas from happening again, be it penny stock saga or blue chip stock saga which are simply too expensive for retail investors.
It can only do well for the reputation of the Singapore stock markets.