The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 50

BUSINESS BUSINESS insider fill fe Si itihi FAGINlilillliff "But in the process we have unravelled the bonds that held the family together, in which the mother was a key figure. "1 am not sure that the trade-off was all that wise, but I did not know that there was a trade-off. I thought I was having both, which was the stupidity and ignorance of youth." Asked what values he would like to see retained, Mr Lee said the first was placing the interests of society above those of the individual. The second was the family as an integral and basic unit of society. Singapore's planners are now aiming for growth from a population of 2.6 an ethnic mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and European to 3.4 in the next few years.

Mr Lee, who found himself in hot water last week after advising Federal Opposition leader John Howard to drop his immigration policy, said Singapore's position was perhaps not all that different from Australia's. "We have been an independent nation for a bare 23 years," he said. "But from the perception of Singapore as a Chinese enclave, I think my neighbours have moved gradually to accept the fact that we belong and that we intend to be a part of the region. "They are coming to the conclusion that we are more cosmopolitan than Chinese. It is a point that worries me because it also means a change in basic values.

"They are hearing this debate going on that we want to preserve a part of the Asian values as Chinese, as Indians, as Malays. I don't couch it in terms that if you accept Indian values then you will be as quarrelsome or as contentious as the Indians and we will never make progress. "I couch it in a totally different diction in which I include my own Malays and my own Indians. As a result, no offence is taken." In comparison, said Mr Lee, the debate started in Australia by Mr Howard was "noisy, boisterous, offensive and unnecessarily crude." Hughes said he liked concentrating on one thing at a time and that getting to bed at 9.30 pm and rising at 4.30 am was the way he coped. He left the Whitlams after 10 pm, maybe because Mr Fairfax had finished gi ing his side of things that day.

Jammed in like the proverbial sardines, the slightly sodden guests included Kim Santow of Freehills, QCs Chris Gee and Antony Whitlam, PR man Martin Dougherty and Wooilahra alderman James Duprce. Architects Philip Cox, John Andrews and Harry Seidler and artist Colin Lanceley added a plus for the cultural side of Sydney's life, and of course Rene Rivkin was enough on his own to represent the stockmarket, weaving his way through the crowd in jeans and a multi-coloured blouson with the usual set of gold worry beads. No shortage of bankers either old mates John O'Neili (State Bank m.d.) and Dennis Cleary (former State Building Society head) chatted to others while First Boston's Miles Armstrong chatted to everyone. Property and medicine were left to Dr Robert Hampshire and Big Business to Dick Pratt and John Bond, late of the Markland House board. Different values IS Singapore's economic miracle turning sour? Its architect.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, thinks it may be. He's worried that along with the development that has made the city-State the showpiece of Asia there has been a loss of Eastern cultural values, threatening to create a pseudo-Western society. "We embarked on certain policies believing it was going to do us good," an uncharacteristically contrite Mr Lee said in Canberra last week. "It has done us good in the sense that it brought economic development, it brought social progress, especially to our women; it gave them equal education and equal jobs. "gracious and lovely but not terribly efficient" piece of real estate, especially as they're redeveloping Ampol's former training college at Ingleside.

Mahratta will be put in the hands of professional real estate salesmen and may one day end up as an exclusive hotel. Alternatively, one bank wag suggests it could be re-developed as a retirement village for bank executives who have always favored the fresh air of the North Shore. Floating interest ONE public relations expert thought that banks in Sydney would be shut on Friday, as financiers took to he seas for the Telerate Regatta. Nicely named boats in the race included Just A Tart (Allied Irish Australia), Pocket Rocket (Astley Pearce), Decent Obsession (Commonwealth Management), Disorganised Crime (Wardley), The Force (Citibank) and Group Therapy (Astley Pearce, again). Famous sailors were Syd Fischer and Ian Kearnan.

Less "famous sailors were John Dickson of ANZ Capital Markets, David Croft of Citibank, an the Andrews Buckland and Clinton of Macquarie Bank. Line honours went to Bain an Co's Dancing Lady skippered by Robert Skinner. Apparently none of the boats ran into Shilo, the Pioneer Concrete floating gin palace that was out for its annual cruise after the AGM. Famous guest on that one was Lord (Peter) Rawlin-son. Rising to occasion LOTS of people at Nick and Judy Whillam's cocktail party the other night wanted to know how silk Tom Hughes was feeling after a month of grilling John Fairfax Limited proprietor Warwick Fairfax in the ongoing Supreme Court tussle between Rothwells Limited and Bond Media Limited versus Tryart Pty Limited.

Flagellation WELL-known Mosman dog-hater and jogger-nudger Harold Scruby has another pet fetish these days as executive director of the Ausflag committee. He is pleased with the decision of Sydney lawyer Malcolm Turnbull to join the rebel republican group keen to see a new flag for Australia. Scruby said Turnbull obviously shared the feelings of other Ausflag directors in wanting to "make Australia a better adding "we have managed to become 200 years old and are still seen by the orld as a colony of Great Britain. It is like a child clutching to a mother's bosom. "Those who have a love of our flag's Union Jack remind me of those who yearn for elm trees, oak trees and clover and have a total dislike for eucalypts, wattles and Australian skies." Scruby said Turnbull as joining a "star-studded cast" on the committee with chairman Sir Rick Kirby and vice-president Nick Whitlam.

The other directors are: architect John Andrews, magistrate Pat O'Shane, UNICEF director Robert Nestdale, PR professional Lesley Brydon, Australian Consul to New York Chris Hurford, former 2MMM owner Rod Muir. Thundering herd IT seems all but certain that American broking giants Merrill Lynch will soon be admitted to the Australian Stock Exchange and based in Sydney. A spokesman for the Sydney Stock Exchange said there were still "outstanding administration matters" to be taken care of before the firm could be formally admitted. Fagin thought preliminary congratulations were in order but they were not so warmly received. Managing director Larry Smith was "out of the office" and everyone else had been told to keep their mouths shut.

Wggfl ye. relevant securities. Sanctions: A person who contravenes section 128 of the Securities Industry Code is, in the case of a natural person, liable to a penalty of $20,000 or jail for five years or both or, in the case of a corporation, to a penalty of S50.000. In addition, a person who deals in contravention of the section is liable, whether convicted of an offence or not, to compensate any other party to the transaction who is not in possession of the relevant price sensitive information and to account to the body corporate that issued or made available those securities for any profit arising from dealing therein. Of course, the real sanction for most insiders is the irreparable damage which a conviction causes to the insider's career and job prospects.

In addition, the likely suspension or revocation of a market professional's licence to practise his trade serves as a powerful disincentive to engage in insider trading. FOOTNOTE: This is merely a thumbnail sketch of some of the current provisions regulating insider trading. The application of insider trading laws to specific situations is often complex and in many cases uncertain. The best rule to follow is when in doubt, don't buy or sell. If the proposed investment justifies the expense, at least go to the trouble of discussing it in advance with a legal adviser.

A. Simon Milne is a solicitor at Mailesons Stephen Jacques. circumstances which precluded that other person from dealing; and (b) when that information was so obtained, the tippee was associated with the insider or had with the insider an arrangement for the communication of price sensitive information with a view to the dealing in securities by himself and the insider or either of them. The first hurdle for the prosecution is that the tippee must be shown to have been aware, or it must be shown from the facts that the tippee ought reasonably to have been aware, that the information was not generally available and that it was price sensitive. The most difficult ment for the prosecution is proof of some concerted conduct or arrangement between the insider and the tippee such that they have become associates or the existence of an arrangement for the communication of information with a view to dealing in securities.

Tipping: An insider or a tippee who is precluded from dealing by reason of his being in possession of price sensitive information, is precluded from communicating that information to another person, if: (a) trading in the relevant securities is permitted on the Stock Exchange; and (b) the insider or tippee knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the other person will make use of the information for the purpose of dealing or causing or procuring another person to deal in the An "insider" includes: (a) a person who is an officer of a body corporate; (b) a substantial shareholder in the company or in a related corporation; or (c) a person who occupies a position that may reasonably be expected to give him access to price sensitive information by virtue of any professional or business relationship with a body corporate. What is price sensitive information? Central to the operation of Section 128 is the concept of "price sensitive This is information which is not generally available but if it were would be likely materially to affect the price of the securities. Thus, the information must not only be likely to affect the price of the securities, but, more importantly, it must be likely to affect it in a material way. Under the current provisions, not only are insiders, as defined, precluded from dealing in securities but such insiders are prohibited from communicating price sensitive information to others and to whom insiders communicate such information are, in certain circumstances, themselves precluded from trading. Tippees: A tippee is precluded from dealing in securities if: (a) the tippee obtained that information directly or indirectly from another person and is aware or ought reasonably to be aware of facts or By A.

SIMON MILNE THE crime of insider trading has become one of the hottest issues in the administration cf corporate and securities laws, both in Australia and overseas. The term "insider trading" is now virtually synonymous "with almost any form of market manipulation. Research studies by Dr Roman Tomasic suggesting a high incidence of insider trading in this country have received wide publicity. Almost every major Western country has passed, or is considering, legislation which would strengthen the government's enforcement hand against this form of securities fraud. To their credit, regulators in Australia have not rushed headlong into revising the existing insider trading laws, but there can be no doubt that increased emphasis is being given to enforcing the existing laws and that a number of proposals for reform are being considered.

What conduct is prohibited? Among the transactions which are prohibited by section 128 of the Securities Industry Code are: dealing by a person who is or has at any time in the past six months been, an insider of a body corporate, in the i securities of that body corpo-f rate, if by reason of his so being an insider, he is in possession of price sensitive In The Courts YU7 COURTESY OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF NSW The polite words were: "We are instructed not to talk to the press." Banking on it MOJO MDA must know something no-one else in town knows. Issuing the annual invitation to client Westpac for its December 1 cocktail party, the ad agency included a list of Westpac invitees so that the bankers would know who else was going from 60 Martin Place. Near the top of the list was Frank Conroy, chief general manager of retail financial services and "managing director This came about because, last year, when the same invitation went out. the top Westpac guest was Stuart Fowler, then also chief general manager of retail financial services, and actually "managing director elect." One can only put this down to a word-processing faux pas, as the only "elect" person in the bank's hierarchy is "chairman Sir Eric Neal, who promises to be For sale PROPERTY lovers will be lining up next year for a big block in funnel-web country. West-pac's residential staff training college, Mahratta, located in leafy Warrawee, will be on the block.

It appears that the bank thinks it's a person who is in possession of price sensitive information which he has obtained from an insider in the specified circumstances; and a person who is himself precluded from dealing may not communicate the price sensitive information concerned to another person in the specified circumstances. There are two important definitions to bear in mind for purposes of the prohibited conduct described above. The first question is who is an information. dealing by a person who is, or who has at any time in the past six months been an insider of a body corporate, in the securities of any other body corporate, if by reason of his being, or having been, an insider, he is in possession of price sensitive information which relates to any transaction (actual or anticipated) involving both those bodies corporate or involving one of them and the securities of another; dealing in securities by a ijMjii. inmiSl rn FrT.f 1 ntmi Jr lt-lso I If PS ft tw I J.

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