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Published on September 20, 2007

The Securities and Exchange Commis-sion yesterday said it had found a link between Win Mark and ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but had discovered no evidence to support a claim that Win Mark was involved in insider trading of Shin Corp stock.

Secretary-general Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had gathered evidence from abroad and investigated the trading activity of UBS AG of Singapore during the period prior to the Shin Corp sale, and had not found that Win Mark was involved in the trading of Shin shares.

Thirachai was defending the role and responsibility of his organisation after key members of the Asset Examination Committee (AEC), from Sak Korsaeng-rueng to Kaewsan Atipho, slammed the exchange watchdog for doing nothing to unearth any suspicious transactions behind the Shin Corp deal.

The AEC has pointed out that Win Mark, an offshore company believed to be controlled by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, could have been involved in insider trading because between January 5 and 20, 2006, UBS of Singapore bought some 56.8 million Shin Corp shares. The Shin deal took place on January 23 last year.

Kaewsan said Win Mark had profited by about Bt500 million from this trading.

However, Thirachai said the SEC's investigation had found that UBS AG of Singapore was one of seven parties that bought Shin Corp stocks and warrants, without the involvement of anybody from the management or major shareholders of Shin Corp.

Of the seven, one was a big-time Singaporean investor, two were Malaysians and one was Indonesian.

"We have not found any insider trading involved. However, this does not mean that there might not be any insider trading," said Thirachai.

He complained that it was unfair of the AEC to attack his organisation, as the SEC had been probing the Shin Corp affair and Win Mark/SC Asset all along. "I was punched in mid-air. The reputation of the SEC is at stake. I have to defend our reputation," he said.

He added that it was rather impractical for the SEC to give all the information to the public about the progress of its probe into the Win Mark/SC Asset deal.

Since Win Mark, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, operates outside Thailand's jurisdiction, it is necessary for the SEC to seek cooperation from foreign institutions for information and the transaction records of the company.

"We have requested the information from the foreign agencies, but in practice they do not automatically have to respond to our request or need. Sometimes when we ask them 10 questions, they might give only two replies," he said.

Another constraint is that the information given to the SEC upon request has to be treated with confidentiality, otherwise the foreign agencies or institutions might not

 

 

 

cooperate with the SEC in the future, he added.

Thirachai said the SEC had begun to suspect dubious deals by SC Asset, a real-estate company belonging to the Shinawatra family, on February 21, 2006. The watchdog suspected that two overseas funds - which held 9.9 per cent and 9.15 per cent in SC Asset - might be acting as nominees for the Shinawatra family.

Thirachai provided the following chronicle of events about the SEC's probe of the Win Mark/SC Asset deal:

l Between February 23 and October 31, 2006, the SEC issued 20 letters requesting information from SC Asset, Win Mark, Thaksin, the foreign securities and exchange commissions, foreign funds, foreign registrar offices involved with listed companies, and securities companies.

l It was not until November 30 that the SEC sent out letters to foreign securities and exchange commissions and asked them to probe the money flows of those involved with SC Asset.

l On February 9, 2007, the SEC had evidence in hand to establish a link between Win Mark and Thaksin.

l On March 12, the SEC wrote to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to inform him that the case should be forwarded to the Department of Special Investigation for further investigation.

l On March 19, the DSI received the case from the SEC.

l On March 23, the DSI agreed to pursue the Win Mark/SC Asset case.

l This culminated in the DSI's recent filing of a criminal lawsuit against Thaksin and his wife Khunying Pojaman for concealing their assets in Win Mark.

The AEC is pursuing its case separately against Thaksin and Pojaman in the Shin Corp deal for links with Ample Rich Investments, another offshore company allegedly controlled by Thaksin.

Oranan Paweewun,

 Thanong Khanthong

 The Nation