The Securities Commission (SC) has dropped insider trading charges against the former executive director of Kencana Petroleum Bhd Datuk Yeow Kheng Chew and two others following instructions from the Attorney-General.

Almost immediately after the criminal charges were dropped, the SC filed a civil suit against the three individuals, seeking, among others, a declaration that they had contravened regulations under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).

In an update on its criminal prosecutions posted on the regulator’s website yesterday, the SC stated that it had dropped all charges against Yeow, better known as KC Yeow, on July 20, 2017, “on the instructions of the Attorney-General”. Two others, Paulene Chee Yuet Fang and Tan Yee Chee, who had been charged for abetting in the offence, also had all charges against them dropped.

The three individuals had been charged for their alleged involvement in insider trading in relation to the proposed merger of Kencana Petroleum and SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd in 2011. When contacted, a spokesperson for the SC said that the AG had the power to discontinue any criminal proceeding at his discretion. “Under the constitution, the Attorney-General as the public prosecutor has the power, exercisable at his discretion to institute, conduct or discontinue any criminal proceedings.

“As this is a criminal case, the SC is required to act under the instruction of the public prosecutor,” the spokesperson said. – The Star

E-commerce tax must be settled in payment gateway

While the Malaysian government is preparing an income tax bill, an expert has suggested that the taxes from e-commerce activities should be deducted at the payment gateway to assure fairness for both the government and businesspeople.

In the current bill, which is being discussed by the government, e-commerce transactions must be reported so that the government can calculate the amount of tax that should be paid from the transactions.

However, Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo said on Thursday the government could not collect taxes based on the transactions that had been made because not all transactions ended with payment. Purchasing financial products can be as easy as purchasing goods

“We should apply the Korean system, where the authority collects the taxes in the payment gateway because e-commerce transactions are paid through online systems,” Yustinus said at a seminar on taxation in Jakarta on Thursday.

Under Director General of Taxation Regulation No. SE-62/PJ/2013, the government collects income tax and value added tax (VAT) from four kinds of e-commerce: online marketplace, classified ads, daily deals and online retail. – The Star

Mining licences of two Australian firms nixed

Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy revoked three mineral exploration licences from two Australian firms that failed to meet work performance guidelines, it said yesterday in a release.

According to the announcement, Summer Gold Investment’s single exploration licence and Riva Natural Resources’ two exploration licences were terminated at the end of June and the companies ordered to pay financial dues to the ministry.

The areas covered under the exploration licences included sites in Rattanakiri province, Mondulkiri province and an area that stretched between Banteay Meanchey province and Oddar Meanchey. – The Phnom Penh Post

San Miguel Brewery nets 9.4 bn pesos in first half

Beer giant San Miguel Brewery grew its six-month net profit by 14 per cent year-on-year to 9.4 billion pesos (Bt6.2 billion) on a double-digit expansion in revenues.

Consolidated revenues for the first semester went up 12 per cent year-on-year to 53.1 billion pesos.

SMB said it had benefited from creative marketing and sales executions that opened new markets and boosted consumption of its products. – Philippine Daily Inquirer