The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission announced civil sanctions against 10 individuals for manipulating the securities of Thai Capital Corporation Public Company Limited, covering TCC shares and the warrants TCC-W3, TCC-W4 and TCC-W5. The sanctions include civil monetary penalties totaling THB 59,780,191, suspensions from trading in securities and derivatives, and prohibitions on serving as directors or executives of securities issuing companies and securities companies for specified periods. The case followed a Stock Exchange of Thailand referral in 2019 and the SEC’s investigation, which found coordinated order placement among individuals with interpersonal relationships to mislead the public on price or trading volume and to create trading inconsistent with normal market conditions. Two periods were identified: 13 March to 21 September 2018, involving three individuals using closely timed, similarly priced and sized bid and offer orders in TCC shares, and 24 September to 6 November 2018, involving all 10 individuals manipulating TCC shares and the warrants through mutually reinforcing, continuous trading patterns including pushing up prices, obstructing other investors’ orders, matched buy-sell orders and pre-opening buy orders aimed at inflating opening prices. The Civil Sanction Committee’s measures cover civil penalties, compensation for benefits received or to be received, and reimbursement of investigation expenses, alongside trading suspensions and director or executive bans. The sanctions take effect once the offenders sign agreements to comply; if they do not, the SEC will ask the public prosecutor to file a Civil Court case seeking civil sanctions up to the maximum statutory penalties, which would not be lower than those set by the Civil Sanction Committee. Civil penalties and compensation are to be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.

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