SEC clears Yap of insider trading raps

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) chairman Felipe Yap of the insider trading and price manipulation charges leveled against him by Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco.

In a letter to Syjuco, Compliance and Enforcement Department officer-in-charge Jose Tomas Syquia said the SEC found no sufficient evidence to prove that Yap had engaged in insider trading of Cosmos Bottling Corp. (CBC) shares when negotiations for the sale of the softdrink maker were about to be finalized between parent company RFM Corp. and acquiring party San Miguel Corp.

The SEC team recommended that the investigation against Yap be closed for lack of evidence. The recommendation was approved by the commission en banc on Oct. 23.

The SEC said F. Yap Securities, the brokerage house owned by Yap, merely joined the bandwagon and bought shares toward the middle of the morning after noticing an unusual interest in CBC shares by other brokers.

Earlier, the PSE itself had cleared Yap and the Concepcions, the majority owners of RFM, whom Syjuco also accused of insider trading.

"We would like to reiterate that there were no findings of violations with respect to the brokers enumerated in the list. The case of RFM and Cosmos had been one of the most disclosed issues in the market even before the (sale) announcement was made," the PSE said.