The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission announced that its Civil Sanction Committee has imposed civil sanctions on 17 offenders for colluding to manipulate the share price or trading volume of East Coast Furnitech Public Company Limited (ECF). The sanctions require total payments of THB 264,791,946 and include prohibitions on trading securities and derivatives, as well as bans on serving as directors or executives of securities issuers and securities companies for specified periods. Following referrals from the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2018–2019 and the SEC’s investigation, 16 individuals were found to have coordinated trading through personal and financial links and by allocating roles to place consecutive orders and allow others to trade through their accounts to create artificial prices or volumes. The conduct was assessed across three incident periods from 24 August 2017 to 5 October 2018, with a 17th individual found to have assisted or facilitated two offenders during the latter two periods. The civil sanctions comprise civil penalties, compensation equal to benefits received or that should have been received (where applicable), reimbursement of SEC investigative expenses, and trading and management bans. The sanctions take effect once the offenders sign consent letters agreeing to comply. If any offender refuses to consent, the SEC will submit the case to the public prosecutor to file a Civil Court action seeking the maximum applicable civil sanctions, which must not be lower than those specified by the committee. Civil penalties and any compensation amounts are to be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.

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