Thailand to Curb Stock Manipulation With Hefty Fines

[webfact]

Thailand to Curb Stock Manipulation With Hefty Fines
By Anuchit Nguyen

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is planning new rules to check stock-market manipulation by allowing the regulator to file civil lawsuits and impose hefty fines on the law-breakers.

The rules take inspiration from the success of U.S. regulators in getting monetary settlements, Vorapol Socatiyanurak, secretary general of the Securities & Exchange Commission, said in an interview in Bangkok today. A bill with the proposals has been sent to the National Council for Peace and Order, Thailand’s junta leaders.

The rules aim to strengthen regulation as current laws only allow for criminal charges to be filed against suspected manipulators, Vorapol said. Such court cases stretch on for years and most defendants are acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence, which has been difficult to gather, he said.

Full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-27/thailand-to-curb-stock-manipulation-with-hefty-fines.html

-- Bloomberg 2014-08-27

[cacruden]

Stock manipulation is fraud and should be punishable as a white collar crime, where the manipulator is sent to jail for up to 10 years, forfeiture of profits - AND a hefty fine.

[belg]

so till now, inside information was not worth any jailtime or investigation...

nice way to get rich overnight

[Time Traveller]

Stock manipulation is fraud and should be punishable as a white collar crime, where the manipulator is sent to jail for up to 10 years, forfeiture of profits - AND a hefty fine.

The best stock manipulation trick I ever saw was in December19, 2006 - after the 2006 coup - when the Thai military backed Treasurer ordered the Bank of Thailand to implement capital controls on Thailand. The Stock market crashed 16% in one day, the largest ever. That evening they removed the capital controls and the day after the stocks bounced back over 12%! Many fortunes by insiders were made over those 2 days.

Yes cacruden, abolish the Bank of Thailand and jail it's board as well as the military leaders of the 2006 coup.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Time Traveller

[Time Traveller]

deleted double post

Edited August 27, 2014 by Time Traveller

[Robert24]

Stock manipulation is fraud and should be punishable as a white collar crime, where the manipulator is sent to jail for up to 10 years, forfeiture of profits - AND a hefty fine.

couldn't agree more. A fine won't deter insider trading, front running, false rumor spreading etc. Thailand is still the wild west when it comes to tackling those crimes.

[BlackJack]

what are there no bots running in Thailand SET or the MAI

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

yes if these hefty fines are anything like some of the ridiculous bail amounts here I am sure it will be very a very effective deterrent (sarcasm for those of you who just aren't sure? Let me see, you swindle billions out of the stock market through manipulation....that will be a 20,000 baht fine. Job done.

[chotthee]

Check out the Thai stock ABC. Up a few thousand percent in just a few days.

[sanuk711]

They are taking on a lot aren't they---from T-shirt street sellers --to stock market manipulators, don't think this could have been done with a civil government, the alcohol thing alone would have them tied up in the courts for years.

Will miss those promo beer girls though ..................

[Travel Dude]

How about today? EMC offered 10 selected individuals for 600 million shares at 0.5 per share while the PAR is at 1 and the stock price was at 1 too. That is a 50% discount. The stock plunged 11%

Is that not price manipulation?

In addition, those 10 individuals would know that the price would fall, so if they are smart they will have taken Shorts, making even more profit.

[retarius]

It's why I don't invest in the SET or other financial assets in Thailand. Most people can't win in a rigged casino.

[Cake Monster]

The words loaded and dice come to mind when talking about the SET.

[BestBitterPhuket]

Yes, yes, yes, tough new measures to make foreign investors feel good, but will the ever lack of enforcement nullify any positive effect from these measures?

[Time Traveller]

How about today? EMC offered 10 selected individuals for 600 million shares at 0.5 per share while the PAR is at 1 and the stock price was at 1 too. That is a 50% discount. The stock plunged 11%

Is that not price manipulation?

In addition, those 10 individuals would know that the price would fall, so if they are smart they will have taken Shorts, making even more profit.

I'm not aware of the details about this case. However, I have seen rare times when thai companies issue new shares or warrants to "insiders" at a discount to market price. (Note: the vast majority of Thai listed companies don't do that BTW as it does not treat all shareholders equally and is unethical).

My suggestion is that stay well away from companies with management like that, if they treat shareholders with contempt before, they will do it again.

However, I would like to add that other countries see this practice much more often than Thailand. Australia as an example, allows companies to halt trading in their shares without notice, then issue new shares at a discount to selected shareholders, then open trading back at the diluted price. This seems like fraud, certainly in the U.S. it would be immediately investigated by the SEC. I have have questioned this with the securities regulator in Australia but it is loophole in the law there apparently. So in terms of stock manipulation, Thailand is not as bad as many other countries.