Where is my dividend check?

Below is a letter sent to Management of KimEng, last October.  While Khun Boonporn did answer on an other minor issue, no answer was ever received by anyone on the more serioud issues raised below. As some people have asked me,  if we did not get our divdidends, whom then did?  6 Months later I still wonder about this issue.  Six months later there remains much confusion on E-dividends, how does this work, do all companies participate and why does it not go through at times?

October 19 .04

Dear Khun Boonporn,

Thank you for your concern and looking into this. I think there are no real specific problems with the marketing officer in Phuket.

The key point is that marketing officers in general should be more careful and accountable when informing clients, on various issues -as misinformation gravely damages the Thai broker industry. In my case there is no need to make any changes.

One such damaging issue/example was well over a year ago when various brokers (Kim Eng included) informed clients that  various listed company dividends can now be paid directly into Bank accounts. Specifically so for NVDR shares. This prompted many foreigners to opt this welcomes auto-dividend option. Only later was is clarified that in fact such auto dividends are not available to NVDR’s (?) Hence, more then a few foreigners got misled/confused and many dividend checks ended up in the trash can. Can you imagine this. The confusion on this continues.

Some marketing officers keep-up the old outdated wrong & nasty attitude that "on the SET dividends don"t matter...(and/or) nobody trades here for dividends".  Marketing officers do not explain that clients whom do not have a local Thai address and do not have a local bank account in place may not be able to collect on their dividends. Some Foreign clients have lost out on their dividends. That is not good, Sir.

Another rather poor habit of Thai brokers in general is the stated policy of not allowing two different accounts, per one client name. So forcing clients to co-mingle trading with investing. This is against all good stock market investing practice/protocol!   (Note, this has been relaxed a bit since we raising this point again and again.)

 Too many marketing officers and brokers claim this is a Thai SEC rule. Nonsense, I visited in person the number two man at the SEC in July whom told me in writing that there is no such SEC policy. Yet most brokers here go on with this self imposed rule, which goes smack against all good broker/investor practices. When clients co-mingle investing with trading, good stocks get traded out and the laggards are held.  In no time it becomes a portfolio of laggards...resulting the client to conclude that on the local stock exchange making profits is ever elusive. When in fact, the client went about it in the wrong way, with the broker and marketing officers wrong "blessing".

I will stop here....and hope you take my comments as constructive criticism, and not meant to slam your industry which nevertheless needs to wake-up some to the global standard. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Paul A. Renaud. www.thaistocks.com

cc:  Shanya Suwannathan (ECom) Shanya@kimeng.co.th

cc:  Kosit Boonroungkaw (Mgmt)  Kosit@kimeng.co.th