PSE suspends Ackerman brokerage anew

MANILA, Philippines - The police and monitoring arm of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has suspended anew the first American-owned stock brokerage in the country.

In a public notice, the Capital Market Integrity Corp. (CMIC) said I. Ackerman & Co. Inc. (IACI) failed to comply with several conditions for the lifting of the trading suspension.

“Thus, CMIC has withdrawn the lifting of the involuntary suspension of IACI, effective after the close of trading hours of Aug. 6,” the watchdog unit said.

“The withdrawal will be operative until IACI strictly and fully complies with the pertinent conditions,” CMIC added.

In May, CMIC suspended IACI and banned the brokerage firm from directly or indirectly trading on the stock exchange amid violations of PSE rules. The suspension was lifted early in June.

CMIC said that during the suspension period, IACI would not be allowed to use the trading facilities of the PSE.

“Considering, however, that IACI’s involuntary suspension should not prejudice the rights of its clients, particularly those relating to clients’ share held by it, clients of IACI can coordinate with IACI,” CMIC said.

For its part, IACI would be allowed “to effect the procedure that can facilitate any transaction involving clients’ shares through off-exchange transactions involving no change in beneficial ownership of shares.”

IACI was founded by the late Irving Ackerman, a New Yorker who moved to the Philippines and wrote the country’s first stock market column. He was one of the founding members of PSE’s predecessor Makati Stock Exchange in 1963.