Listed firms to vet draft SEC bill

The new committee of the Thai Listed Companies Associationincludes Prasert Bunsum-pun, PTT president, seated third left, who has been re-elected president of the body for a second term.

President Prasert Bunsumpun said the draft was now under consideration by the Council of State and that the association would take a close look to see whether anything needed to be adjusted.

"If there's any problem, it will be revised by the National Legislative Assembly," he said.

The main issue of the revised draft focuses on punishing misdemeanours. As such, the draft suggests executives who commit wrongdoing should be directly punished. The current bill punishes the company as a whole if wrongdoing is discovered.

For the rest of the year, the association will undertake more activities, in order to boost the added value of listed companies, improve corporate governance and corporate social responsibility and build up efficiency in terms of competition.

Prasert, who was recently re-elected to a second term, made the official announcement of the association's recent name change. Previously, it was known as the Listed Companies Association.

The association will set up an executive committee to monitor the body's performance, in order to improve management flexibility.

Separately, Prasert commented that dual listing would not only increase the value of securities listed in both domestic and international bourses, but also help the listed firm expand its business.

In cases where executives have traded stocks of their companies, Prasert said corporate governance must be considered rather than the share price.

He said it was the responsibility of both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Stock Exchange of Thailand to investigate the movement of share prices.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation