Bourse to auction off brokerage seat anew

The Philippine Stock Exchange will attempt anew to bid out the trading right held by Sapphire Securities Philippines Inc., a local brokerage house once owned by sovereign wealth fund manager Brunei Investment Agency.

In a circular dated March 26, the PSE said it would bid out the trading right of Sapphire for a minimum price of P10 million on July 5.  This will be the second time for the PSE to auction off this trading right after the first bidding failed last year.

Interested bidders for this new round are given until May 16 to register and submit their requirements. For those who will pass pre-qualification requirements, the deadline for submission of bid forms and bid envelopes will be on June 5.

This trading right is the subject of a court case that was resolved by the Supreme Court in a 2010 decision that stripped Brunei of the trading right and transferred it to Nezpercez Trading Corp. arising from “Kevin G. Khoe vs. Sapphire Securities Phils. Inc., et. al.” The  end-result was that Brunei’s sovereign wealth fund manager involuntarily lost the trading right to Khoe, a fund manager who had some dealings with Sapphire in the 1990s.  Doris C. Dumlao