SEC proposes the amendment to Securities and Exchanges Acts in various aspects so that the law would be more flexible, able to keep pace with new development and suitable for actual use. It also aims to support the using of new technology in several activities in capital market, in particular fundraising, trading, and clearing and settlement. We believe that the embrace of innovation would promote the competition, align and enhance the supervision of alike activities, and provide investors with proper protection. SEC therefore invites public to submit their comments on the proposed amendment which are divided into six parts. The summaries of the essence are as follows:

          (1)  amends the definition of “Securities” in Section 4 to cover other investment products that have substance like securities, and revises the law to encompass the digital trading in securities; 

          (2)  revises overall provisions regarding over-the-counter center i.e., the establishment, qualifications of applicants, conduct of business, and cease of doing business. The proposed will allow the over-the-counter center to provide exchange service or securities and digital token having substance like securities. In addition, the qualifications of board of directors, executives, major shareholders of the over-the-counter center, clearing house, and securities depository center will be revised to make them in line with those applied to person who works in securities business; 

          (3)  added clarity on the protection that investors will receive in case of the bankruptcy of the securities depository center as well as the ownership rights of depositors or customers; 

          (4)  revises SEC’s power on supervision of exchange to make it comparable to international standards. The revision will comprise the authority of SEC’s Board to set regulations on how exchange should conduct its business in order to meet the goals and expectations as stated in the law. It will also include the SEC’s power to take legal actions if the exchange violates laws, rules, regulations, or orders;  

          (5)  enhances the supervision of auditors who audit financial statements of securities exchange and over-the-counter center by requiring the auditors to obtain prior approval from SEC. In addition, the auditors must be associated with the audit firms recognized by SEC. The auditors, however, shall not be director, manager, officer or employee of that exchange or center;  

          (6)  extends scope of prohibitions against unfair practices to cover trading of securities in all trading platforms or venues. 

The consultant paper is available at https://www.sec.or.th/TH/Pages/PB_Detail.aspx?SECID=674. Stakeholders and interested parties are welcome to submit comments through the website, or email: thitika@sec.or.th, patarasaya@sec.or.th, sarochac@sec.or.th, sarochat@sec.or.th or thanapatk@sec.or.th. The public hearing will end on 24 December 2020. 

_____________________