Finance Ministry to unload shares
THE FINANCE Ministry is preparing to sell its shares in massage-parlour businesses and other securities.
The announcement came after law enforcement cracked down on the Victoria: The Secret Forever massage parlour, for allegedly engaging in human-trafficking.
The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) yesterday issued a statement to confirm and clarify a report that the Finance Ministry holds shares in operators of massage parlours.
Piyawan Lamkitja , deputy director general of the Sepo said the Anti-Money Laundering Office transferred the shares to the Finance Ministry in 2012 as a result of convictions of a wrongdoer related to the sex industry.
The ministry holds a combined 0.5-2 per cent of four companies: 10,000 shares in Davis Diamond Star, 6,000 shares in Davis Copacabana, 7,446 shares in Davis Golden Star and 10,000 shares in Davis Silver Star.
“The ministry does not receive any investment return, nor does it engage in management," Piyawan said in the statement. These four companies are registered to operate property renting business , she said.
Most operators of massage parlours exploit a loophole in the law by setting up a property renting company for the sex-service business, which is prohibited by law.
She said that the Finance Ministry has a policy to sell any unnecessary business interest as well as its equities in both unlisted private companies and companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The Cabinet resolution in 2016 gave the green light for the ministry to sell those assets, she said.
So far, the ministry holds 116 securities. Of this, 23 are state enterprise shares, five in mutual funds and 88 in private companies.
Among the private companies, 33 of them had ended their business operations, said Piyawan.
The ministry plans to sell its shares in 55 companies.
Its interest in the first group of 24 companies are asset of companies seized by law enforcement. They are not listed companies and include those four companies mentioned above.
“ The combined asset worth of the 20 companies is very small but the asset value of the four companies is quite large, so we need to hire a financial adviser to deal with these assets, " Piyawan said in the statement.
Sepo aims to sell all these assets in the first quarter of this year, while the rest of Financ Ministry 's interest would be put on sales later, she added.
