SEC adjusts criteria for stock issuing companies – listed companies must not have investment management characteristics.

Bangkok: The SEC has revised criteria regarding business operations of companies that issue shares or listed companies. Must not have the characteristics of investment management (investment company), effective 1 Jan. 2024. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revised the criteria for granting approval for stock offerings and disclosure of information by listed companies. It stipulates that the business operations of companies that issue shares or listed companies Does not have the characteristics of investment management (investment company) in order to protect the interests of shareholders and investors. The announcement is effective from 1 January 2024 onwards. According to the Capital Market Supervisory Board's resolution to improve the criteria to provide clarity regarding the business operations of companies that issue shares or listed companies that may be considered investment companies and do not have behavior that shows that The objective of operations is to enable investors to receive ret urns from their investments in the same manner as operating an investment management business. To prevent the use of the channel for offering newly issued securities to the public as a tool to avoid or not comply with the law and rules regarding investment management (regulatory arbitrage), the SEC has opened to listen to opinions. to the draft announcement which was completed in May 2023 The Capital Market Supervisory Board has therefore issued an announcement to improve the said criteria. The main points are as follows: (1) Clearly define the nature of an investment company, meaning a company that invests in a manner that does not participate in management. which covers investment in securities futures contract or digital assets together exceeding 40 percent of total assets according to the latest financial statements or consolidated financial statements. Except for companies that operate financial institutions. (2) Require listed companies with characteristics as specified in (1) to disclose information regarding investments in the notes to the financial statements until the period in which the investment proportion is less than 40 percent of total assets. (3) In the case of a listed company that has the characteristics of an investment company, the Stock Exchange will post a sign indicating that the listed company will not be allowed to offer newly issued securities of any type in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535. In this regard, the announcement of the improvement of the said criteria has been published in the Royal Gazette. and is effective from 1 January 2024 onwards.-516 Source: Thai News Agency