SEC mulls trimming conditions
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may reduce securities licence fees and adjust the minimum paid-up capital requirement for stockbrokers in a bid to make the rates competitive with other Asean markets.
Securities companies are required to have at least 500 million baht in paid-up capital regardless of how many licences they have, so the SEC is mulling either cutting or i ncreasing t he minimum requirements to make them suitable for business operations, assistant secretarygeneral Paralee Sukonthaman said.
She said in the future, securities firms might not need to have a minimum of 500 million baht in paid-up capital if they wanted to offer only some services.
The securities watchdog is also thinking of lowering securities-related licence fees, but Ms Paralee did not elaborate.
A set of four licence fees — brokerage, trading, underwriting and advisory — costs 20 million baht, while the mutual fund licence fee is 5 million.
In another development, Ms Paralee said the SEC would keep its annual inspection on securities companies to check whether their systems met the required rules and standards.
Local brokerage houses scored a Level 3 on average from a five-level risk score, she said.
The SEC also has a specific examination for brokers with proprietary trading operations to ensure a “Chinese wall” as well as a probe on their working efficiency systems to verify there has been no front running, Ms Paralee said.
However, no irregularities have been detected yet, she added.
Meanwhile, SEC deputy secretary-general Chalee Chantanayingyong said the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) board of governors would meet this month to select persons to fill vacant seats.
SET rules stipulate the board comprise a maximum of 11 people, five of whom are appointed by the SEC and five by the SET.
Mr Chalee said two of the governor positions under the SEC’s quota were vacant.
The appointment of the SET’s board of governors should pave the way for selection of a new chairman of the bourse to replace the retiring Sathit Limpongpan.
Typically, the new chair is selected from the board of governors.
The SET chairman is traditionally selected from among the five board governors who are appointed by the SEC.