©Bernama (Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 (Bernama) –– The Securities Commission
(SC) said Monday it has always practised a rigorous and transparent process for
evaluation of corporate proposals through pre–submission consultations and
post–decision meetings.
"All corporate proposals are only considered after thorough due diligence by
external advisers, including investment bankers, auditors and lawyers, and are
then subjected to a robust decision–making process," said an SC spokesperson
when contacted.
"In addition, the SC has in place internal codes of conduct applicable to all
staff and benchmarked against those adopted by other securities regulators," she
said.
The spokesperson was asked to comment on an article carried by a local
paper concerning a top SC official being probed by the Anti–Corruption Agency
(ACA).
The article said prior to the investigations, an anonymous letter was addressed
to SC chairman Datuk Zarinah Anwar on May 2006 that alleged SC officials played
a key role in getting a company listed on Bursa Malaysia and another prepared
for listing despite both companies failing to meet the financial requirements,
plus several other irregularities.
Stating that the SC had always cooperated with the relevant authorities to
protect the integrity of their market, the spokesperson, however, declined to
comment when asked whether it was aware of such a probe on a top SC official.
The spokesperson also declined to comment on the article quoting ACA director of
investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul who confirmed the top SC official's case
was linked with the NasionCom and Gropoint Ocean Sdn Bhd (GP Ocean) cases.
Recently, charges were brought against former NasionCom Holdings Bhd's managing
director Datuk Chee Kok Wing for allegedly receiving money to induce an SC
director to help seafood company GP Ocean to get a listing on Bursa Malaysia in
2006.
The SC spokesperson also said that the grounds for rejection of corporate
proposals were always clearly articulated to the applicants and their advisers,
with the reasons for rejection published on the SC website. "In addition, the
turnaround time for evaluation of corporate proposals is clearly made known to
the market and this scorecard is published on a quarterly basis," she said.