THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called on the public to report suspected instances of insider trading as it scrutinizes market activities to further strengthen investor protection, an official of the agency said.
“I can relay that the SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) is actively monitoring the markets. We have the appropriate machines, among other things,” SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester K. Lee said during a roundtable in Makati City last week.
He made the statement when asked about the matter, to which he said the commission has people monitoring and studying any activities linked to insider trading.
“We would welcome if the public has any complaint or formal report. Please do send us. That would help move across any investigation on our part,” he added.
Mr. Lee added that the probe on telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. continues, under Capital Markets Integrity Corp. (CMIC), the independent audit, surveillance and compliance arm of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“As I understand, it is still being studied at the CMIC level. But the SEC’s Markets and Securities Regulation Department (MSRD) is coordinating with them or at least it is being updated,” Mr. Lee said.
In December last year, the SEC started its investigation on possible insider trading after PLDT disclosed an estimated P48-billion budget overrun over a four-year period, as well as the “selloff in shares” prior to the disclosure.
PLDT attributed the overspending to site rollout, transport projects, and ports rollout.
SCAM ADVISORIESMeanwhile, SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said SEC warning advisories have increased in recent years. He did not give specific numbers.
“In 2018 when I came in, we averaged 25 advisories per year. In 2019, it went up to 50. In 2020 to 2021, the average was about 150 advisories. This is not because there is a rise in actual scams. It is just because our enforcers are more vigilant,” Mr. Aquino said.
According to Mr. Aquino, the increase in the investment scam advisories was due to the SEC’s stronger monitoring as well as a wider coverage to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“The [number of] advisories have gone up because we are not just monitoring local [scammers] but also global scammers to protect our OFWs who are dollar earners. We do regular sweeps of the internet just to make sure. It doesn’t mean that if the SEC did not issue an advisory, there are no scammers,” Mr. Aquino said. — Revin Mikhael Ochave
