The securities watchdog will set out to prove whether the financial adviser intentionally concealed SC Asset's shareholder structure in its official documentation, SEC director for corporate affairs Charuphan Intararoong said yesterday.

"We'll mainly consider their intentions. However, we believe it is beyond possibility that Thanachart Securities helped the concealment, because SC Asset's shareholder structure was hidden among several parties, and even the SEC could not access that information," he said.

Whether the SEC will summon Thanachart Securities for questioning will depend on decisions by related departments, he said.

On Tuesday, the DSI indicted deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, his wife Pojaman and Busaba Damapong on charges of share concealment in a case linking British Virgin Islands-registered company Win Mark with SC Asset. Thaksin's family holds a majority stake in the Thai property firm. The DSI also charged SC Asset with breaching provisions of the Securities and Exchange Act regarding information given in a prospectus.

In 2000, Thaksin said he had sold shares in three property companies - OAI Property, PT and SCK Asset - to Win Mark for a total of Bt906 million. However, Win Mark sold the shares in OAI Property to the Value Asset Fund of Malaysia (VAF) in 2003, and three weeks later VAF sold the shares to the Overseas Globe Fund and the Offshore Dynamic Fund. The three funds share the same address in Malaysia. Remarkably, the sale took place when OAI Property, later renamed SC Asset, was about to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, in November of that year.

Thanachart Securities' managing director for investment banking said the company examined SC Asset's shareholding structure before the company's listing, as required by the SEC.

Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) president Patareeya Benjapholchai said the DSI's charge against SC Asset would not hurt the company's listing on the stock exchange, because it fully complied with the SET's requirements in terms of minimum share allocation to the public.

Meanwhile, Thanachart Securities is joining BNP Paribas Securities (Asia) to host two road shows in Asia, Europe and the US involving 10 listed Thai companies. The road shows began on Monday.

The companies involved are Amata, Advanced Info Service, Glow Energy, Asian Property, Thanachart Capital, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, Krungthai Card, Bangkok Expressway, Charoen Pokphand Foods and MCOT.

All 10 companies are attending the first round of road shows in New York, Boston, Italy and London. Asian Property and MCOT will drop out after the road shows in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Asvini Tailanga, Thanachart Securities' managing director for brokerage business, said that in the period from January to May this year, Thanachart ranked ninth in the securities-brokerage business, with a market share of 3.47 per cent, up from 3.31 per cent last year. The percentage of the broker's foreign customers has also increased, from 0.72 per cent last year to 1.03 per cent at present, she said.

The SET Index yesterday chalked up a 1.74-per-cent rise to close at the day's peak of 777.1 points, after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said a general election might be held on November 25, earlier than originally planned.

Large market-cap stocks led the rally. Bangkok Bank rose 2.56 per cent to Bt120, Kasikornbank was up 4.23 per cent at Bt74, and Siam Commercial Bank jumped 3.5 per cent to Bt74.

Siriporn

Chanjindamanee

The Nation