Bangkok, February 11, 2014 ? Vorapol Socatiyanurak, SEC Secretary-General revealed that  the SEC Board has approved draft regulation on the offering of ASEAN Collective Investment Schemes (ASEAN CIS) to retail investors in Thailand, expected to become effective by Q2/2014.

The ASEAN CIS allowed to be offered to retail investors in Thailand must be approved by capital market regulators and have been offered to retail investors in other home jurisdictions of ASEAN members. Also, the scheme must conform to the common standards on Standards of Qualifying CIS in terms of the qualifications of CIS operator and fund supervisor as well as investment requirements.  

The offering of ASEAN CIS will be made through securities companies in Thailand and in compliance with disclosure rules comparable to the offering of investment units issued by general mutual funds in Thailand, such as the requirements on prospectus, fact sheet and annual report. In addition, a local representative or representative office will also be required for the purpose of general administration and cooperation; for instance, publishing unit pricing, distributing reports to unitholders, and managing dispute resolution.

?The SEC in 2012 issued regulations on the offering of ASEAN CIS to non-retail investors. This new regulation will be a codified set of new and existing regulations to accommodate both offerings to retail and non- retail investors. The greater extent of offering to retail investors will not only widen investment alternatives, but also expand business opportunities for the mutual fund operators and propel integrated regional capital markets,? Vorapol said.        

The cross-border offering of ASEAN CIS in ASEAN countries is developed under the ?Implementation Plan to promote the Development of an Integrated Capital Market to achieve the objectives of the AEC Blueprint 2015.?  The Implementation Plan aims to create linkage among ASEAN capital markets and facilitate cross-border securities offerings, which will boost the Thai and ASEAN capital markets? competitive edge in the international arena.

More details of Standards of Qualifying CIS are available at http://www.theacmf.org/ACMF/upload/standards_of_qualifying_cis.pdf