The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Monday suspended trading in More Return Plc (MORE) shares after the energy, water and property-related company was reportedly involved in irregular trading of its stock on Thursday and Friday last week.
The SET has asked the company for an explanation, and also told brokers to take additional measures to monitor trading in the company's shares.
In a statement issued on Monday, the SET said it found unusual trading from the previous period. On Thursday, MORE had a trading value of 7.14 billion baht, ranking top in total market turnover on both the main bourse and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI).
MORE shares opened at 2.90 baht last Thursday, up 4.3% from prior trading. Then the price declined to its floor at 1.95 baht. MORE's price continuously declined the following day, hitting the floor again at 1.34 baht, which prompted the SET to notify investors to trade with caution and required brokers to increase measures to supervise trading in such securities.
Most of the purchase orders reportedly came from a major shareholder of the company and the sales of the shares came from the same person. MORE's president and chief executive Ummarit Klomchitcharoen denied any involvement in the transactions.
"There was a lot of news and inaccurate information about MORE securities over the weekend, which may lead to the confusion and affect the decision on trading of MORE securities. In order to give the investors the opportunity to receive corrected and completed details from all concerned parties, the SET agreed to suspend trading of MORE securities on November 14," the SET said in its statement.
Due to the abnormal trading of MORE shares, the SET previously alerted investors to be more cautious in trading MORE stock and asked the company to explain the incident. The authority also urged brokers to impose additional measures to monitor MORE stock trading.
Meanwhile, the SET has consulted with brokers and regulators - the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - in order to investigate such abnormal trading of MORE, which might affect certain brokers.
The potential impact, however, could vary depending on the size and volume transacted through that broker. Currently, all brokers could provide services to investors as usual, the SET said.
In addition, it is confirmed that clearing and settlement of trading transactions among all brokers and Thailand Clearing House (TCH), as the central counterparty (CCP), will continue to operate normally, the statement added.