THE Government and Guoco were torn between keeping quiet on their discussions about Overseas Trust Bank and making the news public to protect investors' interests. Obviously the market received a tip yesterday which helped pushing Guoco's share price upward amid generally pessimistic market sentiment. Earlier in the day the company had announced that it had not entered into any transaction which was notifiable. Investors thought the story would stop there. Then, the company had second thoughts. While it is true that the company has not entered into any notifiable transaction, it is having discussions on an important transaction which has affected its share price. But if the company admitted such discussions were taking place, investors would not find it difficult to link these to OTB, which the company has long claimed to have an interest in acquiring. That would break the spell of silence that the Government has cast over the whole OTB issue. However, by being tight-lipped the company would have to shoulder the responsibility for failing to disclose an important transaction or discussions that would have an impact on its future share price. And that might lead to certain investors trading on privileged information. After careful calculation, both parties - Guoco and the Government - considered it was in the best interests of all to confirm the speculation, which led to the second announcement. Meanwhile, the market thrived on another rumour. It was said that what really gave Guoco the upward momentum was not the already-known fact that it was in the bidding for OTB, but that it had offered the highest bid among the short-listed candidates. With the chances of successfully acquiring OTB getting greater, both its shares and warrants displayed rare dynamics, a trend unseen in recent weeks. Monetary Authority executive director (banking) Albert Cheok said the company and the Government were in a dilemma over keeping quiet and running afoul of the exchange's rule on disclosure.