Judge Azizul Azmi bin Adnan found that Dato’ Sreesanthan had breached section 89E(2)(a) of the Securities Industry Act 1983 when he acquired a total of 600,000 shares of Worldwide Holdings Berhad (Worldwide) between 7 June 2006 and 11 July 2006 while in possession of material non-public information.

In its decision, the High Court found that Dato’ Sreesanthan was in possession of material non-public information relating to the proposed privatisation of Worldwide undertaken by Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor by way of a member’s scheme of arrangement under section 176 of the Companies Act 1965. The proposed privatisation of Worldwide was subsequently announced to Bursa Malaysia on 23 August 2006.

Dato’ Sreesanthan was a senior partner in a law firm and acted as a legal adviser for the proposed privatisation of Worldwide.

In allowing the SC’s claim, Dato’ Sreesanthan was ordered to pay to the SC a sum of RM1,989,402.00 being an amount equal to three times the profits gained as a result of the insider trading.

In addition, Dato’ Sreesanthan was also ordered to pay the SC a civil penalty of RM1,000,000 and barred from being a director of any public listed company for a period of ten years starting 18 November 2020. The SC was also awarded costs of RM100,000.