The Constitutional Court has passed a unanimous ruling that the presumption of persons having known or possessed the inside information under Section 243 and Section 244 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (SEA) and the imposition of the statute of limitations for criminal cases on civil lawsuits in order to enforce civil sanctions under Section 317/13 of the SEA are not contrary to or inconsistent with Paragraph 1 of Section 26 and Paragraph 2 of Section 29 of the Constitution.   

Mr. Anek Yooyuen, SEC Deputy Secretary-General and Spokesperson, said: “The Constitutional Court’s ruling is in relation to a petition claiming that the aforesaid sections of the SEA were unconstitutional. The SEC, as the regulatory body under the SEA, provided an explanation to the Constitutional Court in this regard. The Court's ruling confirms the SEC’s legal authority to enforce the provisions of the SEA against offenders, ensuring the efficiency of the law enforcement procedure. The SEC has always exercised its duties and authority strictly, covering both criminal proceedings and civil sanctions. The public can rest assured that the SEC exercises utmost discretion to enforce the law strictly and fairly for all parties involved.” 

Regarding enforcement statistics, from 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2024, the SEC has brought criminal proceedings in 156 cases by filing criminal complaints with the inquiry official against 558 offenders. Additionally, civil sanctions have been imposed in 62 cases against 246 offenders. These offenders gave written consent to comply with the civil sanctions imposed by the Civil Sanction Committee. The civil monetary penalties totalled 1,567.70 million baht and the compensations for the benefits received or should have been received totalled 194.32 million baht. The SEC has remitted both amounts to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue. 

In the event that any offenders refuse to give consent to the civil sanctions, the SEC has the authority to file a lawsuit against such individuals in the Civil Court. So far, the SEC has filed 18 cases in court for offenses such as insider trading and price manipulation of securities. Five of these cases have reached final judgement, and another five cases have received verdicts from the Court of First Instance and are currently under appeal. In all 10 cases above, the Court ruled in favor of the SEC, imposing the maximum civil sanctions as prescribed by law. The other eight cases are currently under consideration by the Court of First Instance. 

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