The Council of State reviewed the draft FBA amendments and returned them to the ministry on Friday with the comment that some details of the amended act were unfair to existing businesses and new investors.

Skol Harnsuthivarin, secretary to the Commerce Minister, said yesterday that the Council of State disagreed with some details of the amendments. It also asked the ministry to revise the definition of "nominee" in the act to make it clearer for foreign enterprises.

Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet, permanent secretary Karun Kittisataporn and director-general of the Business Development Department Kanissorn Navanugraha will meet at the ministry today to discuss the amendments.

However, Skol said the ministry also had the right to stick with the original draft of the amended FBA and submit it directly to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval.

Last week, the NLA has proposed its own draft of the amended act to the government, which the ministry will also consider in revising the details in its final draft.

A Commerce Ministry source said the Council of State had asked for the ministry to revise the provision in Article 8 that allows existing companies with illegal shareholding structure to continue operating after notifying the government, which would be unfair to new companies that have to conform to the amended, stricter act.

Moreover, the ministry was asked to remove the detail in Article 9 that requires existing companies that are already under police or court investigation to be punished under the act, but exempts others from investigation into whether they have illegal shareholding structure.

The Council of State also asked the ministry to out stringent controls on not only ownership of shares and voting rights but also management powers.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation