Singapore halves prohibition orders against former Citibank employee

The prohibition order for Zheng Xuemei has been reduced to one year.

The Minister in Charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has halved the duration of the prohibition orders against former Citibank relationship manager Zheng Xuemei from two years to one year, an announcement revealed.

On 17 May 2018, MAS announced the issuance of prohibition orders against Zheng for a period of two years, with effect from 14 May 2018. The orders prohibited her from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and from providing any financial advisory service under the Financial Advisers Act (FAA).

She is also prohibited from taking part in the management, acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market services firm under the SFA and any financial advisory firm under the FAA. 

MAS had issued the prohibition orders on the grounds that Zheng had not honestly carried out her duties to her client as an appointed representative of Citibank, as well as her unsatisfactory performance as a relationship manager.

Zheng subsequently appealed to the Minister against MAS’ decision. Following the hearing by MAS’ independent Appeals Advisory Committee (AAC), the Minister decided to reduce the length of the prohibition orders.

Any person who is aggrieved by MAS’ decision to issue a prohibition order against them is entitled to appeal to the Minister in Charge of MAS.

“When such an appeal is made, an AAC comprising three members will be constituted from a panel comprising members from the financial services industry, as well as the public and private sectors, as appointed by the Minister,” the regulator explained. “ After the hearing, the AAC will submit a written report to the Minister which the Minister will take into consideration in making his final decision.”