Bangkok, 23 September 2019 – The SEC attended the International Organizations of Securities Commission (IOSCO) Growth and Emerging Markets Committee (GEMC) Annual Meeting and Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia last week. Key developments included the setting up of a Fintech working group and the SEC announcement of support and participation in such activity along with other GEMC members.
SEC
Secretary-General Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol and executives attended the GEMC Annual
Meeting on 20 September 2019. Currently, the GEMC is composed of 80 member
countries and chaired by Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi from the Securities
and Commodities Authority, United Arab Emirates.
Key developments at the GEMC meeting
included the SEC participation in the proposed work on Fintech in emerging
markets to study approaches and tools which regulators, as innovation
facilitators, can adopt. These include innovation hubs, regulatory sandboxes
and accelerators. The focus will be given on how to promote practical implementation
and effective results for the benefit of emerging markets. This Fintech
initiative emphasizes the role of regulators in promoting innovations and facilitating
developments of business operators while ensuring appropriate investor
protection.
The
GEMC meeting also agreed to the holding of the Outreach Program for Sustainable
Financing in Emerging Markets by the Asia Pacific Regional Committee at the
IOSCO Asia Pacific Hub in Malaysia. This will be the first time for the region
to host such program in order to enhance knowledge on sustainable financing,
exchange of views and experiences, addressing issues and best practice, as
well as roles of regulators with regard to sustainable financing.
In
addition, the IOSCO announced the World Investor Week during 30
September – 6 October 2019 to encourage global regulators to promote financial
literacy and investor protection, and to raise awareness of investors around
the world. The SEC confirmed participation in the campaign, featuring three
tech-based and target-driven initiatives, i.e., (1) SEC
Check First, an application
for verifying the status of service providers and capital market products under
the SEC supervision which helps investors make informed decisions, (2) SEC Retirement Checkup, an application for facilitating
investment plans and retirement savings calculation, and (3) SEC Caravan,
an outreach program to educate the provincial public about the capital market.
The
three initiatives above are designed in line with the SEC strategy and guidelines
for facilitating innovation and sustainability development of the capital market
and the economy, with an equal emphasis on market development and supervision.
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