Thailand’s Securities Watchdog Green-lights First ICO Portal

Thailand’s very own Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given its approval to the country’s first ever portal specifically designed for scrutinizing initial coin offerings (ICOs). Here is everything about it in a nutshell.

Green-Lights Foreign Firm

In an official report published Wednesday, the decision was courtesy of SEC’s board of directors. As of press time, it requires final approval from other government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce. The approval decision was announced by Archari Suppiroj, the agency’s director of fintech.

The portal will be responsible for protecting investors by scrutinizing ICOs. At the same time, it will be in charge of auditing all smart contracts and countering the existence of financial crimes. All of these can be made possible through the portal’s know-your-customer (KYC) processes.

Suppiroj further claimed that between seven or eight companies had previously sought the help of SEC when it came to operating the portal. Apparently, the agency decided to move forward with an unnamed foreign company.

The first ICO to be launched through the portal is going to be publicly offered in the future. This will be done under the royal decree aimed digital currency businesses. She added that sales of security tokens or STOs must be duly regulated via the Securities and Exchange Act, while holders are expected to apply in order to acquire a license.

But as far as the director of fintech is concerned, the SEC also has another plan to work on. Basically, it wants to issue regulations that would enable companies to start tokenizing securities and other digital assets.

Just last month, Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly had given approval to the amendment made to the Securities and Exchange Act. The decision made it possible for the legalization of issuance of tokenized securities to happen. This will include the likes of bonds and/or stocks coming from entities other than the country’s Securities Depository.

Issuing Security Tokens

Suppiroj added that there is a next process to their overall plan. She is basically referring to the activity of offering security tokens. According to her, the issuer’s next step is to offer security tokens directly in the country’s primary market.

Also in February this year, Thailand’s SEC barred a handful of digital currencies from the utilization of ICO investment, as well as being a base in trading pairs.

Meanwhile, in July last year, the commission had stated that only the country’s national currency, which is the baht, and at least seven digital currencies must be used in ICOs. This includes Stellar, Litecoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and the world’s leading crypto Bitcoin.