Thai SEC monitoring movements of politically-involved stocks

BANGKOK, May 20 (TNA) - Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Friday that the commission is closely monitoring movements of politically-involved stocks and has efficient measures to oversee trading on the Thai bourse.

SEC Secretary-General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala acknowledged that the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has been assigned to closely monitor data which may affect stock prices and if there was anything wrong, SET would inform SEC so that his commission could take necessary measures to cope with it.

Regarding suggestions by some parties that SEC use data from the Thai Ministry of Finance's Revenue Department to supervise and monitor stock trading by politicians, Thirachai insisted that it should remain unnecessary to resort to the approach unless a serious offense was found.

The SEC chief's comments were in response to concerns aired by Thai caretaker finance minister Korn Chatikavanij and many other parties over feared stock manipulations by some groups of people to use securities returns for their political purposes in the wake of the recent dissolution of the Thai House of Representatives. (TNA)