Commerce Ministry looks into Kularb Kaew
The Commerce Ministry will soon conclude an investigation into whether Kularb Kaew Co Ltd has breached the country's business laws, said Orajit Sighkalvanich, director-general of the Business Development Department.
Kularb Kaew is alleged to be a nominee of Temasek Holdings. Though its Thai shareholding is 51 per cent, Thai shareholders' voting rights are less than 10 per cent. If it was proven to be a nominee, the company would be in violation of the foreign business law which treats a foreign-owned company differently from a Thai-owned firm.Orajit insisted yesterday the Commerce Ministry had not been lenient with Temasek Holdings' takeover of Shin Corp Plc. She said the department had performed every process under the law and the outcome of the probe into the company should be issued soon. However, she could not guarantee if the result would come out this week or not because the department has to check all documents first. "If a document is not complete, we need to find out more about those alleged companies," she said. Kularb Kaew Co reported it was 51 per cent owned by Thai shareholders, including Pong Sarasin, who is Shin's chairman, but according to the company's books, the Thai shareholders are entitled to only 3 per cent of profits and only 5.1 per cent of the voting rights. Karun Kittisataporn, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, said the department may have to invite the boards of those companies to the ministry to clarify the case. "If the documents are not clear, we will invite the companies' boards to make clear all allegations to the department," Karun said. He said the investigation team is now working on those documents and should have a result within a few days. Under foreign-business laws, foreign entities must obtain business licences from the Commerce Ministry before making any investment in the Kingdom and must produce an investment plan to show how much they plan to invest in the next three years. After petitioning for a licence, they must bring in at least a quarter of the promised investment. Meanwhile, Orajit said the department had not filed any lawsuit against Asia Aviation Co Ltd - the new shareholder of Thai AirAsia - as earlier reported. The department only fined the company Bt20,000 for using a bogus address in its filing. It would pass the case on to the economic crime police to investigate whether the company was a nominee or not, she said. Shin Corp holds 49 per cent in Asia Aviation, with the rest held by Thai investors. Asia Aviation in turn holds 50 per cent in Thai AirAsia. The new company was set up on the assumption that Temasek's acquisition would make Shin Corp a foreign company which, in turn, would make the company's 50 per cent-owned subsidiary Thai AirAsia ineligible for a commercial aviation licence. The opposition viewed the company as a nominee - set up to keep Thai AirAsia eligible for the licence. No foreign company is allowed to keep such a licence. Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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