KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has imposed 118 administrative sanctions for various misconducts and breaches of securities laws in 2022.

These included violations of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities, knowingly providing false or misleading information to Bursa Malaysia, violations of the take-overs and mergers provisions, and late submissions of documents under the Lodge and Launch Framework.

According to the SC's Annual Report 2022, sanctions imposed on parties found to have violated the regulations included reprimands, licence revocation, licence suspension, imposition of penalties and directives, and requirements to make restitution. 

A total of RM12 million in penalties were imposed against some parties for their misconduct, the SC said in the annual report released on Monday (March 27). 

Apart from administrative actions under its statutory powers, the SC also issued 76 infringement notices in 2022. The nature of cases ranged from corporate misconduct (22%), to insider trading (31%), securities fraud (14%), market manipulation (5%), unlicensed activities (11%), and money laundering (17%). 

Infringement notices are issued where breaches of securities laws or guidelines detected do not warrant the initiation of a formal enforcement action or the imposition of an administrative action.

As of Dec 31, 2022, there were a total of 49 active investigations conducted by the SC involving securities fraud and corporate misconduct. 

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