Finance Ministry revokes Asia Wealth Securities licence for misusing client funds

The Ministry of Finance has withdrawn Asia Wealth Securities‘ (AWS) securities business license following a recommendation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to the unauthorised use of client funds.

The SEC discovered that on November 14, AWS had improperly utilised 154 million baht of clients’ funds to buy shares of More Return (MORE) from Thailand Clearing House without clients’ consent.

According to the SEC, “AWS’s actions could cause serious harm to the public interest. The case was brought before the Capital Market Supervisory Board, which ordered AWS to return the misused money to clients and develop a protection system to prevent a recurrence of the problem within a specified period.”

On December 1, the SEC board found that AWS failed to follow the regulator’s instructions, particularly in preventing the unauthorised use…