Stock brokers, represented by the Philippine Association of Securities Brokers and Dealers Inc., have gone to court to bar the Securities and Exchange Commission and Philippine Stock Exchange from limiting their voting rights to 20 percent in the PSE.

In a disclosure, the PSE said it has received a summons from the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City to answer the Petition for Injunction with Prayer for Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order and Writ of Preliminary Injunction filed by PASBDI.

The case was filed by the PASBDI against the SEC, the PSE’s Nominations and Elections Committee (NOMELEC), and the PSE.

PASBDI wanted the court to bar the PSE or anyone acting under its control or authority to desist from adopting or implementing the Rules of its NOMELEC.

Specifically, it wants to stop the enforcement of Rules 3 and 4 which “effectively limits, restricts, curtails or in any manner diminishes any or all of the individual petitioners’ voting rights in any stockholders’ meeting, including the forthcoming Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of the PSE on May 1, 2010.”

The brokers also sought to bar the SEC from enforcing its order to the PSE dated March 8, 2010 requiring the PSE to limit starting this year, and every year thereafter, the voting rights of brokers to 20 percent.

They also sought to enjoin the PSE 2010 NOMELEC from enforcing the SEC order and the 2010 NOMELEC Rules.

The Securities Regulation Code has mandated that brokers as well as any industry group may own only a maximum of the 20 percent of the PSE.

However, since the brokers refused to forced to sell their PSE shares and be diluted, the SEC has decided to just limit their voting power to 20 percent even though they own voting common shares amounting to more than 20 percent.

Under the NOMELEC rules, “the number of brokers that may be elected shall correspond to the 20 percent ownership limit, provided that non-brokers may elect additional brokers to the board as long as the total number of brokers shall not exceed 49 percent of the board seats.”