Modernform director hit with civil fine

Modernform director hit with civil fine

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proceeded with imposing a civil fine on a director of SET-listed Modernform Group Plc for insider trading.

Chatchai Thammarungrueang, formerly vice-chairman of the board and executive director of Modernform, has been ordered by the SEC to pay a civil fine and return total benefits worth 2.58 million baht.

It was found that Mr Chatchai had used a trading account of Benchamas Thammarungrueang, Mr Chatchai's daughter, to sell his shares in the company in the amount of 1.3 million shares, as Mr Chatchai had acknowledged that Modernform's net profit logged in the second quarter of 2016 would decline drastically from the first quarter.

Mr Chatchai attained the information from the company's statements by attending the board meeting before Modernform announced its second-quarter results via the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Aug 15, 2016, according to the SEC.

Modernform's net profit was reported at 20.34 million baht in the second quarter of 2016, down 61.2% quarter-on-quarter.

"Mr Chatchai's action [involves] the sale of securities by using facts which have not been disclosed to the public and have importance in determining the price of securities," the SEC said. "This is a disadvantage for outsiders [other investors]."

Ms Benchamas was also ordered to pay a civil fine for being implicated with Mr Chatchai's insider trading.

Both have complied by paying the full amount of the civil fine, the SEC said.

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