In a note to its dealer representatives, Affin Hwang Investment Bank said that effective 2.30pm today, the cash-upfront requirement shall be imposed for all purchases on its list of designated stocks and warrants.

The cash upfront requirement applies to non-margin trading accounts, it added.

The list included stocks such as Mercury Securities Group Bhd, Jentayu Sustainables Bhd, Widad Group Bhd, and Artroniq Bhd, which hit their limit down this week.

It also included Globetronics Technology Bhd, Leform Bhd, Mestron Holdings Bhd, APB Resources Bhd, Pertama Digital Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd, Silver Ridge Holdings Bhd, and Tanco Holdings Bhd.

Mercury Securities’ shares tumbled 40% yesterday and fell another 8.8% today to end at 42 sen. Widad crashed 61.2% today to end at 19 sen while Artroniq fell as much as 60.6% today.

“Orders placed including good-till-date (GTD) buy orders prior to 2:30pm, Jan 18, 2024, will not be affected. However, please ensure that all clients’ GTD buy orders of all the above-mentioned stocks are cancelled after end of day today, to comply with the cash-upfront requirements,” it said.

Meanwhile, AmInvestment Bank also implemented today the cash-upfront requirement for stocks which share prices have been battered recently.

Its list included Rapid Synergy Bhd, YNH Property Bhd, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd, APB Resources, Widad Group, Artroniq Bhd, Mestron Holdings, and Tanco Holdings, a bank source confirmed.

Rapid Synergy and YNH Property are stocks linked to businessman and investor Yu Kuan Chon. Rapid Synergy has lost 86.1% of its value since the start of the year while YNH has crashed 71.3%.