MAS fines law firm employee for insider trading

The Monetary Authority of Singapore fined Song Qing, an employee of law firm Shook Lin & Bok LLP, $50,000 for contravening insider trading laws.

Song bought 40,000 Bright World Precision Machinery shares after reviewing the translation of legal documents containing non-public price sensitive information, the central bank said in a statement today. He made a profit of $1,000 from the share purchase, the regulator said.

Bright World’s share price jumped 80% to 66.5 cents in July 2008 after China Holdings Acquisition Corp. announced its takeover plans, the monetary authority said. Shook Lin was the legal adviser to Bright World’s majority shareholder in the acquisition, according to the central bank.