Singapore Charges Ex-Forex Traders for Unlawful Gains

In unrelated cases, charges were filed last Thursday against two ex-foreign exchange traders for alleged unlawful gains. The traders transacted around $1.1 billion US dollars in false trades in November 2009, using their banks' accounts to get preferential rates.

Former HSBC senior dealer Ivan Chng faces 149 charges of facilitating transactions in his wife's accounts. He allegedly made roughly S$230,000 in unlawful gains off the back of $870 million in trades.

Toh Hway Khuan, former Deutsche Bank spot trader, stands accused of netting around S$140,000 in 39 counts of false trades totalling almost $300 million US dollars.

In a tu quoque irony, both banks recently settled with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for their roles in the Forex rate-fixing scandal (among other transgressions).

Chng and Toh have since both been let go from their positions, and Deutsche Bank has confirmed that it has been assisting the Commercial Affairs Department in its investigation. The two are currently out on bail with the next hearing scheduled for February 13.

Singapore is considered to be a regional retail Forex Trading hub, with over 18,000 individual clients and 24 regulated brokers, most notably branches of Western players such as OANDA, CMC Markets and City Index.

In a country surely stuffed with chewing-gum legal proceedings, it is probably jaw-dropping that it only took five years for the two to be charged.

Cases: Public Prosecutor v Ivan Chng Kian Wee, DAC903481/2015. Public Prosecutor v Toh Hway Khuan, DAC903647/2015. Singapore State Courts.