Ayala Corp tightens insider trading policy

Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, has tightened its insider trading policy.

In a meeting yesterday, Ayala’s board of directors approved the amendments to its existing policy on insider trading, widening the scope of trading restrictions and disclosure obligations of the company’s directors and officers to other Ayala companies.

This means that Ayala’s board of directors and offices are covered by the trading restrictions, as well as disclosure obligations, when they are trading securities of other listed companies under the Ayala Group and not just the shares of Ayala Corp.

These companies are Ayala Land Inc., ACEN Corp, Globe Telecom and Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Also covered by the tighter insider trading policy are Integrated Microelectronics Inc., AREIT Inc., AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. and ENEX Energy Corp.

The amendments were endorsed to the board by the company’s Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee.

Insider trading involves trading of shares of a public company by someone with access to material information about the stock, which isn’t available to the public.

Insider trading is illegal although insiders can trade their holdings provided they make the necessary disclosures.

In the Philippines, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) experienced the biggest insider trading scandal in 1999 through the Best World Resources scandal.

It led to the enactment of the Philippine Securities Regulation Code (SRC) of 2000, a new securities code which tightened regulations on insider trading.

In 2021, a regional trial court found the president of a local brokerage company guilty of market manipulation of stocks of Best World Resources Corp.