At the joint meeting held at the SEC Building yesterday, the SEC led by Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon and the management, and the ASCO led by Chairman Pichet Sithi-Amnuai, directors and members (consisting of executives and representatives from 38 securities firms) held discussions and shared views regarding operations that may affect trust and confidence in the Thai capital market such as the use of program trading/ high-frequency trading. The participants also discussed approaches towards developing and improving the securities industry according to international standards. This collaboration seeks to build confidence in the Thai capital market, ensuring widespread and fair benefits for all sectors with transparency and trustworthiness. 

The discussions also covered topics that the SEC has already addressed and those currently under review such as inspection of naked short selling transactions and mechanisms for regulating short-selling and program trading, for example, collateral requirement and revision to the securities settlement cycle. This is to ensure stability, fair treatment, and non-discrimination among all types of investors.

Additionally, the SEC requested the ASCO to review its practice guidelines for members regarding short-selling activities to better align with the current situations and the SEC's observations, aiming to provide securities firms with common guidelines for effectively preventing inappropriate actions and facilitating further inspection of regulators.

Furthermore, the SEC urged the ASCO to consider the determination of trading service fees to promote fairness among investors, reflect quality competition, and foster sustainability in the securities industry.

“The SEC emphasizes the importance of building the overall market confidence. We welcome inputs and suggestions from securities firms of varying sizes and business natures to ensure fair and equitable representation of all stakeholders including securities firms throughout the value chain. We believe that collaboration and exchange of views play a key role in setting the directions for a sustainable capital market. Meanwhile, we will further explore all suggestions and observations gathered during this joint meeting to develop ideas for future criteria. We expect to foster ongoing collaboration and discussions like these in the future,” said SEC Secretary-General.