A brave stand against insider trading
Members of the Thai Banking Association and Foreign Bank Association should emulate those of the Association of Investment Management Companies, led by Voravan Tarapoom, in shunning CP All until it ends insider trading among its top executives.
CP All's board took no action against executive chairman Korsak Chairasmisak, vice chairmen Piyawat Titasattavorakul and Pittaya Jearavisitkul or True vice chairman-group counsel Athueck Asvanund for using insider information to buy Siam Makro shares just before CP All announced it would buy Makro shares above-market. The guilty quartet would have been motivated to seek a high purchase price that, in effect, transferred money from CP All shareholders’ pockets to those of Makro shareholders – including those of the inside traders’.
The courageous and highly professional action of the AIMC could come to nought, though, if CP All is able to refinance its maturing debentures, via bank loans, for example.
To show that they, too, have zero tolerance for top executives who bite the shareholder hands that feed them, the bank associations should shun CP All until it stops letting inside traders off the hook just by paying fines. Bankers, take a stand for ethics and your own interests. Show that you will not tolerate crooks.
Burin Kantabutra
