According to referrals from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the SEC’s further investigation, actions liable to be offenses committed by the three persons above were detected during 16 November – 28 December 2018. Atthavut and Sujeera colluded to send trading orders of TIGER stocks in manners of manipulating the closing price, executing bid orders to heighten the price, dominating bid and offer orders* and matching bid and offer orders among themselves through the securities trading accounts of Atthavut, Sujeera and Piliaipit. Additionally, Piliaipit allowed Atthavut and Sujeera to use her trading accounts and bank account to trade securities and clear the trading orders. Such collusion in executing trading orders of TIGER stocks of Atthavut and Sujeera in such manners caused the TIGER stock price to be inconsistent with normal market conditions with the price rising from 3.50 baht/stock to 4.50 baht/stock and the average daily trading volume increasing from approximately 5.11 million stocks to 7.43 million stocks. 

The offenses committed by Atthavut and Sujeera were deemed manipulation of TIGER price under Section 244/3 (1) and (2), subject to the penalties under Section 296, Section 296/1 and Section 296/2 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (SEA) in conjunction with Section 83 of the Penal Code. Additionally, the use of other persons’ securities trading accounts to commit unfair trading activities was subject to the penalties under Paragraph 2 of Section 297 of the SEA in conjunction with Section 83 of the Penal Code. 

In the case of Pilailpit, by letting Atthavut and Sujeera use her securities trading accounts and bank account to conceal their respective identities, she committed an offense subject to the penalties under Paragraph 1 of Section 297 of the SEA. 

The Civil Sanction Committee has decided to impose civil sanctions** on the three offenders through the imposition of civil penalty, compensation at an equal amount to the benefit received or should have been received, reimbursement of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC, suspension of trading in securities or derivatives contracts, and bar from serving as a director or executive in a securities issuing company or a securities company, as summarized below:    

  (1) Atthavut shall pay a civil penalty, a compensation at an equal amount to the benefit received or should have been received, and a reimbursement of the investigative expenses incurred by the SEC at the total amount of 6,836,479 baht, and shall be suspended from trading securities or derivatives for 10 months, and shall be barred from serving as a director or executive in a securities issuing company or a securities company for 20 months; 

  (2) Sujeera shall pay a civil penalty, a compensation at an equal amount to the benefit received or should have been received, and a reimbursement of the investigative expenses incurred by the SEC at the total amount of 6,836,479 baht, and shall be suspended from trading securities or derivatives for six months, and shall be barred from serving as a director or executive in a securities issuing company or a securities company for 12 months; 

(3) Pilailpit shall pay a civil penalty, and a reimbursement of the investigative expenses incurred by the SEC at the amount of 77,542 baht for each case, and shall be barred from serving as a director or executive in a securities issuing company or a securities company for four months.  

The suspension period for the offenders serving as a director or executive in the above cases will commence upon the date when the offenders affix their signature on the letter of consent to comply with the civil sanctions determined by the Civil Sanction Committee. If any of them declines to give consent for the civil sanctions, the SEC will notify the public prosecutor in writing for filing the case with the Civil Court to seek a civil sanction with a maximum penalty as prescribed by law which shall not be lower than the penalties specified by the Civil Sanction Committee.  

In all cases, the civil penalties and the compensations at an equal amount received or should have been received from committing the offenses shall be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.  

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Remarks: 

* The domination of trading orders refers to the execution of bid and offer orders in large volumes. The practice may aim to mislead other investors by creating a false impression of escalating bid or offer demands at a given time, or it may be an obstruction to the buying or selling activities of other investors, consequently compelling them to send trading orders at prices higher or lower than they would have been under normal circumstances. 

** Section 317/1 of the SEA B.E. 2535 (1992), as amended by the SEA (No. 5) B.E. 2559 (2016), prescribes that the criminal offenses under the law shall be deemed the offenses whereby civil sanctions may be imposed on the offenders. 

Details of civil sanctions and associated procedures are available at: https://www.sec.or.th/TH/Pages/LawandRegulations/CivilPenalty.aspx