Agriculture company Calata Corp. said it plans to appeal the one-month trading suspension slapped by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Calata corporate secretary Jose Marie Fabella said in an interview while the company confirmed an “office error” because of non-disclosure of trades conducted by president Joseph Calata, the one-month trading suspension might be “too much” and would be “detrimental to the investing public.”
It will also appeal the P300,000 fine imposed by PSE against the company.
“Why sanction the whole company when only one of the officers committed the violation? We will write to the PSE to appeal the penalties,” Fabella said.
The PSE suspended the trading of Calata effective 2:20 p.m. of June 30, 2017, because of alleged multiple violations of the PSE disclosure rules. The suspension will be in effect for one month.
The local bourse said Calata violated the rules of the PSE governing the timely disclosure of the disposition of shares by a company’s directors and principal officers and disclosure of updates of previous disclosures on material information that might affect investor decision.
The PSE said the company also violated the “blackout rule” which prohibited directors and principal officers who had obtained material non-public information to trade their company’s shares within a prescribed period.
The blackout rule is in place to provide a fair market environment to the investing public by disallowing the possible trading of company insiders using non-public information that they may have access to by virtue of their position in the company.
“We would like to assure the investing public that the exchange upholds strict compliance to our disclosure rules for the protection of investors and to maintain a fair and orderly market. The parameters for timeliness of disclosures have been put in place precisely for these reasons and any violation will need to be dealt with accordingly consistent with our rules,” PSE president Ramon Monzon said.
Fabella said the “office error” occurred when Calata ordered one of his staff “to file” the trades he had made involving Calata shares. But the office staff thought that Calata’s order “to file” meant to be kept in a folder for safekeeping.