Trading of Benguet Corp.'s shares suspended

The Securities and Exchange Commission has affirmed the order of the Philippine Stock Exchange to suspend the trading of Benguet Corp. shares for one month starting Monday. The SEC said the mining company has clearly violated the disclosure rules. “The allegation of [Benguet] that the notices of default it received from two creditors did not produce an event of default or an actual default which effectively negates its obligation to disclose is not tenable," the SEC said. “Notices were sent to [Benguet] due to the fact than an obligation fell due and became demandable. Obligations which become due and demandable are material information that affect the financial status of the company, which, in effect is an event that must be disclosed under the Revised Disclosure Rules," it added. The PSE has originally ordered to suspend Benguet’s shares starting October 27 but the SEC halted the implementation following an appeal filed by the mining company. Following the SEC order, the bourse had cautioned the investment public from buying and selling Benguet shares. Despite the SEC intervention, Francis Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, reiterated that the mining company has repeatedly violated the unstructured disclosure requirement of the exchange. The PSE cited that the penalties was decided after “careful and deliberate evaluation," and also took into account the miner's record of non-disclosure violations in the past. The imposition of the penalties and trading suspension by the PSE were due to Benguet's failure to provide material information regarding its debt problems, amounting to P1.2 billion. Benguet failed to disclose the receipt of notice of default in February issued by PNB Trust Banking Group for non-payment of its loan obligations with Tranche 1 (SPV-AMC), Inc. Also, Benguet was unable to disclose receipt of another notice of default in July from PNB for failure to pay its loan obligations with Investment 2234 Philippines Fund 1 (SPV-AMC), Inc. -GMANews.TV