SET to keep tabs on 8 brokerages


Amid rising speculation in the bourse, the Stock Exchange of Thailand is keeping an eye on eight brokerage houses with records of wrongdoing on share prices.

Patareeya Benjapolchai, president of the SET, said Tuesday that the exchange aimed to focus more on brokerage houses' internal supervision, which will help the SET to run the bourse more easily.

"Stock speculation has been on the rise. We would like to focus on brokers to make it easier to trace speculation via brokers," she said.

However, Patareeya believes stock speculation is not in itself an abnormal situation, and as such is not a concern for the SET. Some investors prefer speculative stocks, while institutional investors prefer stocks with good fundamentals, she said.

If there is abnormal movement of prices and trading volume of any stock, the SET has certain criteria and measures to cope, she added.

On Monday, the SET prohibited net settlement and margin loans for trading of Navanakorn, Navanakorn Warrant 1 and RK Media for 30 days after it found their prices and trading volumes had irrationally and significantly moved up.

Patareeya said the SET would continue to keep an eye on these three stocks, particularly their prices and trading volumes.

Supakit Jirapraditkul, senior vice president of the SET, said yesterday that the exchange had identified a group of brokerage house representing about 20 per cent of total brokers - some seven or eight firms. These firms have records of breaching the SET's regulations on stock prices and have been often ordered by the bourse to submit information about their customers' trading activities.

The Nation