Bangkok Airways’ CEO Forced To Resign

January 21, 2019

Bangkok Airways’ CEO Prasert Prasarttong-osoth has resigned after Thai regulators banned him from holding executive positions and fined him for manipulating the airline’s share price.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand imposed civil sanctions against three individuals, Prasert, his daughter Poramaporn Prasarttong-osoth, and executive secretary Narumon Chainaknan on January 18.

The three are subject to civil penalties of THB499.45 million baht (USD$15.7 million) in total, and are “banned from holding the director and executive positions at any securities issuing company and listed company.”

Prasert and Narumon resigned on Monday with immediate effect.

Bangkok Airways said in a statement to the Thai stock exchange that it had not received any letter from the SEC on the vacating of the positions but noted that the two individuals had tendered their resignations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that between November 13, 2015 and January 12, 2016, Prasert, Poramaporn and Narumon “executed trading transactions of BA (Bangkok Airways) shares in group and on a continuing basis, and matched trading orders among themselves while concealing their trading activities to mislead the public regarding the share price and trading volume.”

The SEC said the three offenders were in “possession of untrustworthy characteristics” and “must vacate the positions” by a specified date.

If any of the three offenders refuses to comply with the civil sanction, including the fine, the SEC said it will forward the matter to the public attorney to file a lawsuit for payment of the maximum civil penalty.

(Airwise)