Following information received from the digital asset exchange operated by Bitkub Online Co., Ltd. (Bitkub Exchange) on 4 January 2022 and the SEC’s further investigation, it was found that during the period from 2019 to 2021, four offenders, namely: (1) SIX Network (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (SIX (Thailand)), acting through (2) Mr. Vachara Aemavat, the person responsible for SIX (Thailand)’s operations, together with (3) Mr. Vorapot Lan and (4) Mr. Passavin Kaewlumpoon, both employees of SIX (Thailand), jointly placed orders to trade SIX while knowing that such person (who places such order) or a person acting together with such person had placed, or would place, an order to sell or purchase the same digital asset in a similar amount, at a similar price and within a closely connected timeframe on the trading platform of Bitkub Exchange.

The actions of SIX (Thailand), Mr. Vorapot and Mr. Passavin constituted a violation of the provisions prohibiting any person from placing orders to sell or purchase digital assets, or selling or purchasing digital assets, in a manner that causes the public to be misled as to the trading volume of digital assets, pursuant to Section 46(1) in conjunction with Section 48(2) and 48(3), as applicable, of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018) (Emergency Decree), together with Section 83 of the Criminal Code, which is subject to penalties under Section 70 of the Emergency Decree. In addition, the conduct of SIX (Thailand) resulted from the direction or actions of Mr. Vachara. Accordingly, Mr. Vachara is liable under Section 94 in conjunction with Section 46(1) of the Emergency Decree and is subject to penalties under Section 70 of the same Emergency Decree.

The Civil Sanctions Committee (CSC) has therefore resolved to apply civil sanctions to the four offenders as follows:

(1) SIX (Thailand) shall pay a civil penalty and reimburse investigative expenses incurred by the SEC in the total amount of 1,644,898.85 baht. In addition, SIX (Thailand) shall be prohibited from trading digital assets on a digital asset exchange or entering into derivatives contracts related to digital assets for a period of 6 months.

(2) Mr. Vachara, Mr. Vorapot, and Mr. Passavin shall each pay a civil penalty and reimbursement of investigative expenses incurred by the SEC in the amount of 1,644,898.85 baht. In addition, each of them shall be prohibited from trading digital assets on a digital asset exchange or entering into derivatives contracts related to digital assets for a period of 6 months, and prohibited from acting as director or executive for a digital token offeror or a digital asset business operator for a period of 12 months.

Furthermore, Mr. Vachara shall be jointly liable with SIX (Thailand) for the monetary sanctions imposed on the company as a joint debtor under Section 99 of the Emergency Decree in conjunction with paragraph two of Section 317/11 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992), as amended by the Securities and Exchange Act (No. 5) B.E. 2559 (2016).

The civil sanctions prescribed by the CSC, namely the specified periods of prohibition from acting as director or executive of a digital token offeror or a digital asset business operator and prohibition from trading of digital assets on a digital asset exchange or entering into derivatives contracts related to digital assets, will take effect from the date the offender signs a letter of consent agreeing to comply with the sanctions. If the offender refuses to extinguish the case, the SEC will request the public prosecutor to file a lawsuit in the Civil Court seeking the maximum applicable civil sanctions as provided by law.

The above civil penalties shall be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as public revenue.