THAILAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Wongsakrit Khajangson, Panupan Udomsuvannakul, Koraphot Jirachocksubsin and Pitchaya Roongroajsataporn, Chandler Mori Hamada
crowdfunding portals in Thailand. In this respect, crowdfunding, where shares or debentures are issued as consideration, is deemed a type of public offering under SEC regulations. A crowd - funding portal operator must obtain a licence
Designated payment services, which are: • provision of credit cards, debit cards or ATM card services; • provision of e-money services; • provision of services for accepting electronic payments for and on behalf of others; • provision of e-money transfer services; and • other payment services which may affect payment systems or the public interest. Digital Assets The Digital Assets Decree was enacted to regu - late offerings of digital assets (cryptocurrencies and digital tokens) and businesses undertaking digital asset-related activities. The Digital Assets Decree aims to ensure that digital assets market standards align with international standards and protect market players. Digital Lending On 15 September 2020, the BOT issued Circu - lar No BOT.FhorGorSor (01) Wor 977/2563 Re: Criteria, Procedures and Conditions on Digital Personal Loan Business Operations. The pur - pose of this BOT circular is to relax the criteria for personal loans for those without regular – or proof of – income or for those without collateral and to provide flexibility to personal loan pro - viders in providing personal loans in electronic form. However, for other types of loans which are not personal loans, financial service providers still have to comply with regulations that do not On 31 July 2020, BOT Notification No SorNorSor 14/2563 Re: Rules, Procedures and Conditions for Undertaking Peer to Peer Lending Platform Businesses (the “Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform Notification” ) was announced in the Government Gazette and became effective on the same date. specifically regulate digital lending. Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms
from the Office of the SEC. 2.2 Regulatory Regime
Currently, the fintech industry is not directly reg - ulated by any specific overarching legislation in Thailand. However, operators need to comply with certain business-related regulations. The key regulations related to fintech business activities are as follows. Payment Systems (Including E-money, E-wallet and E-payment) In order to enhance the supervision of payment systems and payment services, the Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 (2017) (the “Payment Systems Act” ) was enacted and came into effect on 16 April 2018. Its main purpose is to regulate the following. Highly important payment systems are pay - ment systems that are important to the security and stability of the country’s payment systems, financial systems, or monetary systems. Designated payment systems, which are: payment systems that are networks between system users that handle fund transfers, clearing or settlement, such as retail fund transfer sys - tems, payment card networks, and settlement systems; or any other payment systems that may affect the public interest, public confidence, or stability and security of the payment systems.
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