Portfolio pumping or the practice of manipulating stock prices higher at calendar-end periods is not as widespread in Singapore as commonly perceived. That is the finding of a report by the CFA Institute authored by its staff at its Asia-Pacific regional office in Hong Kong. But don’t confuse that practice with “window dressing” or outright pump and dump” schemes. The detailed research behind the CFA Institute report was sparked by a landmark civil suit filed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) against well-known fund manager Tan Chong Koay and the firm he founded, Pheim Asset Management, back in August 2009. The suit alleged that Tan had created a false or misleading appearance to the share price of United Envirotech over a three-day period from Dec 29, 2004 to Dec 31, 2004. Tan was subsequently found guilty and paid a hefty fine for his investing misdemeanour. He was also prohibited from working as a fund manager in Singapore for two years. The prohibition order ......