Thaksin's Son Found Guilty Of Violating Security Regulations

[Jai Dee]

Panthongtae has been found guilty of violating security regulations, but Ms. Pinthongta has been cleared of the charges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has found Mr. Panthongtae Shinawatra (พานทองแท้ ชินวัตร) guilty of not reporting share sale and not submitting documents, while his sister, Ms. Pinthongta (พิณทองทา), has been acquitted of the charges.

The Secretary-General of the SEC, Mr. Teerachai Puwanartnaranuban (ธีรชัย ภูวนาถนรานุบาล), concluded the inspection of Shin Corp’s share deal yesterday, saying that the process was delayed as the SEC needed to check information from abroad. He said that the SEC has carried out inspections carefully and was neutral in inspection. He said that the inspection found that Ms. Pinthongta was not guilty of the charges, as she has clear supporting documents. However, he said that Mr. Panthongtae was found to have breached the laws. Mr. Panthongtae bought Shin Corp shares from Ample Rich Investments on September 1, 2000, during which time Ms. Pinthongta was also a shareholder of Ample Rich. Mr. Teerachai said that Mr. Panthongtae, holding 24.99% of the shares at the time, needed to report his shareholding as when combined with shares of Ms. Pinthongta, his shares exceeded 25%. The law stated that Mr. Panthongtae needed to make a tender offer, but he failed to do so. Mr. Panthongtae also repeated his offence on September 9, 2002 when he reported his sale of Shin Corp shares to Ms. Pinthongta but failed to report his shareholding in Ample Rich.

Mr. Teerachai said that the punishment for the violation ranges from 2-year in imprisonment, a fine of no more than 500,000 bat, and a daily fine of 10,000 baht until the offense is corrected. The SEC, however, sees that the offence was minor, and therefore, the prison term can be avoided. However, he said that the amount of money to be paid by Mr. Panthongtae is still unknown. The figure is expected to be released within this week, and SEC will inform Mr. Panthongtae of his charges and fines on February 25th.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 24 Febuary 2006

[PeaceBlondie]

The offence is minor? Pan was a minor.

1 September 2000 to the present date is over 5 years, over 2,000 days. At 10,000 baht per day, that's 20 million baht. Plus the 500,000 baht maximum penalty. Compared to the sale price of 73 billion baht, that's .0002808 of the profit, or 0.03% of the profit.

The offence is minor? The fines and penalties are minor.

[Jai Dee]

SEC Inspection found that there is only one Ample Rich Investments based in British Virgin Islands

Inspection by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that there is only one Ample Rich Investments, which is based in British Virgin Islands.

Mr. Teerachai Puvanartnaranuban (ธีรชัย ภูวนาถนรานุบาล), the Secretary-general of the SEC, said that the Democrat Party has charged that there are two firms registered under the name of Ample Rich Investments, based in two countries, but the inspection by the SEC has found that there is only one Ample Rich Investments. He said that the inspection found that the report on the firm based in England was inaccurate, due to changes in shareholders of Ample Rich Investments. He said that the Ample Rich Investments’ two offices in the British Virgin Islands were set up to facilitate businesses.

Mr. Teerachai commented on whether there was an insider trading, that the matter rests with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, which is still probing the case. He said that the SEC has not received any reports, but said that initial investigation stated that share sale between Mr. Panthongtae and Ms. Pinthongta Shinawatra did not cause damage to anyone, and therefore, did not amount to the insiders’ trading. He added that the share transfer between Sida Holding and Aspen Holding following a takeover deal by Temasak, does not require a tender offer, as the two firms are under Temasak Group.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 24 Febuary 2006

[Thaising]

Ticking a wrong box, share transferred without inform SET and forgotten to declared etc,etc. They will getaway with just a fine with all this bullshits.

[Sangsom]

The minor fines make the try worth while! Not really a risk for the rich!

[backflip]

On the other hand, Martha Stewart tried to save $100,000...and her company lost $1 billion in value as she landed in jail. Too bad.

[Jai Dee]

FAMILY INTEREST VS PUBLIC INTEREST

SEC denies probe was a whitewash

Watchdog reacts to Democrats' claim over Shin investigation; Korn likely to return to fray Monday

The beleaguered Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday issued a rebuttal to the Democrat Party's accusation that it had whitewashed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family members on charges concerning the Shin Corp sell-off.

"The comment that the SEC puts the family's interests before the national interest is unfair to the agency," SEC secretary-general Thirachai Phuvanat-naranubala said in a statement.

"Concerning the report that [MP] Korn Chatikavanij will launch a legal case against the SEC, I realise the risks. However, at the same time, failing to ensure fairness to those involved and abuse of power could also draw legal cases against the SEC from those investigated. The SEC therefore needs to be fair and uphold the same [regulatory] framework that we have enforced on others," he said.

Thirachai urged anyone with evidence showing a contradictory conclusion from the SEC's to come forward.

The SEC's press conference on Thursday provoked dissatisfaction from Democrat MPs investigating the alleged irregularities behind the Shin stock sale, particularly those concerning individuals and brokers-custodians in the deal.

Korn said yesterday that the party's fact-finding team would likely submit its list of dubious points to the SEC on Monday.

One such grey area is the report by UBS Singapore Branch to the SEC upon receiving 10 million Shin shares from Ample Rich Investments Ltd on August 24, 2001. UBS stated that it had bought the shares at Bt179 apiece.

The SEC's explanation was that UBS did not understand Thai laws. The bank claimed ownership of the shares in the filing and the price could have been the average trading price of Shin on that day.

Korn said UBS in fact did not need to make any filing under trading rules, as the stake that it had bought represented less than 5 per cent of Shin's capital, the threshold that triggers a mandatory filing.

"It filed the report and specified the purchase price because it combined the 10 million shares with 5 million Shin shares already under its care. The combined number of shares exceeded 5 per cent, which prompted it to file the report," he said.

Although UBS could have several accounts holding Shin shares, the bank specifically combined the 10 million shares with the 5 million shares in the account of a particular client, he added.

"We can assume that UBS knew that Ample Rich and the particular client are identical. It thus combined the number of shares and filed the report. Despite this, the SEC opted to accept that it had filed a wrong report," Korn said.

In the SEC's statement, Thirachai insisted that the SEC's examination was within its legal framework and based on evidence that could be cross-checked. He said he could not be swayed by an individual's belief in any investigation, regardless of the investigated person's social and political standing.

If the public still harboured doubts about the UBS case, the SEC would ask the Monetary Authority of Singapore to check with the Singaporean bank to ensure that its clarification was sufficient.

The SEC has become the latest government agency to come under fire, following the Revenue Department, which received nothing from the complex deal that allowed the Shinawatra and Damapong families to net Bt73.3 billion tax-free.

Next week, the Commerce Ministry and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) - both of which launched investigations under mounting public pressure - will come under the spotlight.

The Commerce Ministry is expected to disclose the results of its probe of companies believed to operate as nominees for the parties to the deal.

According to a SET source, the exchange will also announce if any executives of the Shin group - including the outgoing president of Advanced Info Service Plc, Yingluck Shinawatra - had used inside information for personal gain.

Source: The Nation - 25 Feb 2006

[TAWP]

In some countries the fine is always a % of the profit the person gained...

But then again, here he is only sited for a technicality and hence the amount of profit he got isn't a part of the picture I guess, no?

[chownah]

In some countries the fine is always a % of the profit the person gained...

But then again, here he is only sited for a technicality and hence the amount of profit he got isn't a part of the picture I guess, no?

What percent do they ususally charge?

[TAWP]

From memory (economical fraud and therefor it's law is not one of my hobbies) it can be up to 120% of the profit, via 100% of the profit in 'fee' for the crime (for a lack of better word when translating) and 20% as 'punishment'.

(Also it can be deemed as payment required at 'vite', aka every time the offence is done, as a standing penalty. For instance if a carretailor would advertise falsly about their loans and tricking people into 40% rate, or similare.)

But that has no bearing on this case.

Edited February 25, 2006 by TAWP

[chownah]

From memory (economical fraud and therefor it's law is not one of my hobbies) it can be up to 120% of the profit, via 100% of the profit in 'fee' for the crime (for a lack of better word when translating) and 20% as 'punishment'.

(Also it can be deemed as payment required at 'vite', aka every time the offence is done, as a standing penalty. For instance if a carretailor would advertise falsly about their loans and tricking people into 40% rate, or similare.)

But that has no bearing on this case.

Is this before tax profit or after tax profit?

[asd]

By Daniel Ten Kate

As for Panthongtae, the SEC said he had failed to properly notify the regulator concerning his holdings in Shin Corp, and did not conduct a mandatory tender offer that should have been triggered when he legally held 36.20 percent of the company from September 1, 2000, until September 9, 2002.

"We consider that Panthongtae's case is not significantly serious so he will be fined for violating Article 246 and 247," Thirachai said.

If Panthongtae acknowledges guilt in the case, a committee selected by the Finance Ministry will likely meet in the next two weeks to assess the fine. Under the Securities and Exchange Act, violations of Articles 246 and 247 are punishable by a jail term of up to two years or a fine that could be as high as 200 million baht in this case.

The SEC decision marks the first guilty verdict associated with the 73.3 billion baht Shin Corp share transfer last month.

The Democrats had several problems with the SEC's explanation, including the claims that Ample Rich simply moved its Shin shares around because it wanted to change custodians.

"I have serious doubts that the SEC line on Vickers Ballas and UBS is correct," said Korn Chatikavanij, a former investment banker and the party's deputy secretary-general.

"The SEC needs to be more vigorous in looking into this."

The Democrats plan to raise this issue and others, including allegations that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra continued to hold Shin shares through another British Virgin Islands-registered company called Win Mark Limited, in a meeting with SEC officials that may take place today, Korn said.

In addition, the lawmaker wondered why Thaksin was not required to notify the SEC under Article 246 when he sold Ample Rich to his son on December 1, 2000.

"I don't understand why he was not required to notify the SEC," Korn said. "In my view, he broke the law too."

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[Plus]

It is, ASD, it is.

I will always bow down to people who made it. If it was done by Thais - triple bows. There's a sign that this country can go on forward.

Taksin - ouk pai.