Briefs

The commercial banking system recorded outstanding loans of Bt11.8 trillion at the end of this year’s first quarter, led by Bt2.96 trillion in consumer loans for residential and auto hire-purchases, according to the Bank of Thailand.
Loans for residential purposes led consumer loans with Bt1.34 trillion outstanding, trailed by auto instalment loans of Bt868 billion and other consumer loans of Bt717 billion.
The financial and insurance group ran second with Bt2.93 trillion in outstanding loans.
Manufacturing was third with Bt2.02 trillion, followed by wholesale and retail, and auto repair with Bt1.54 trillion and real estate with Bt503 billion.

SEC suspends two
The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a one-month suspension on Wassuwit Nasongkhla, a capital-market investment consultant at RHB OSK Securities (Thailand), and disclosed the inappropriate behaviour of Sunantha Chaichamni, a securities-market investment consultant of the same company, for trading securities on behalf of a client.
After a customer complaint against the pair, as well as a report from RHB OSK, the SEC found that Sunantha and Wassuwit had been authorised by their client to make securities-trading decisions on the client’s behalf. Sunantha admitted that she had been authorised by the client to take care of the trading account and inform the client after the trades were executed.
In performing their duties, investment consultants can send trading orders only when obtaining instructions from the clients. They cannot make trading decisions on behalf of clients, regardless of the client’s permission. The SEC suspended Wassuwit for one month starting yesterday.