SEC salvaging Thai markets’ reputation after insider trading scandal

 

Unfortunately, George Morgan has misread my letter and also the Thai securities law. 

My intention was not to criticise the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the penalty levied for insider trading against the chief executive of CP All. On the contrary, I laud the SEC secretary-general for taking action almost immediately after coming to office two years ago. My point instead was that a meeting of minds between the company’s board and institutional investors is currently unlikely. As such, the SEC needs to play a part in halting the ongoing bad publicity for our capital markets. 

If you read the law (especially in its English translation) without understanding the mechanisms of implementation, you end up with only half the picture. SEC Settlement Committee members have to work under the guidance of SEC personnel – a practice common to most regulatory bodies.

Meanwhile the idea of handing the SEC powers of prosecution was ruled out ages ago for violating international standards of justice that require government cases to involve the public prosecutor. Otherwise the police would have loved to take on the cases in question.

Once appointed, the SEC secretary-general responded to the outcry over this case immediately by announcing an intention to change the law to make insider trading a serious offence with corresponding penalties, including disqualification from holding a position of public trust. That prompt action offers room for optimism. 

Songdej Praditsmanont