Briefs

SEC urges securities firms to boost|due diligence on their customers

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in cooperation with the Association of Thai Securities Companies, has urged securities companies to strengthen their know-your-customer/customer due diligence and credit line review practices, particularly for those clients who have traded securities under the cash balance rule or inappropriately transferred securities to their accounts to raise their credit limit.

The SEC has also recommended the ASCO to revise its KYC/CDD guidelines and propose the guidelines for securities transfers between clients to prevent fraudulent activities or inappropriate acts.

Vorapol Socatiyanurak, secretary-general of the SEC, said last week that the SEC and ASCO have agreed to be responsive to the bullish sentiment driving the SET Index and causing turnover to soar.

Securities companies will be required to strictly and cautiously exercise their KYC/CDD and review of client credit line practices, especially for clients trading securities under the cash balance rule or those transferring a high volume of securities into their accounts to increase their credit limit and later transfer the securities out of the accounts.

The requirements aim to better reflect the actual financial status and debt repayment capability of every client. This will enhance securities companies' risk management and preserve market confidence. The SEC and ASCO have also agreed to revise the 2007 version of KYC/CDD and credit line review guidelines to be more appropriate and in line with current circumstances.

At this juncture, the SEC has also urged the ASCO to propose the guidelines for securities transfer between clients with a view to preventing fraud or inappropriate acts.

Firms breaching Foreign Business Act

The Commerce Ministry's Business Development Department will today hold a press conference on 100 companies that are suspected of breaching the Foreign Business Act.

Deputy Commerce Minister Natthawut Saikuar said last week that in the ministry's preliminary finding, companies that are likely to breach the act are mostly located in Chon Buri and Prachuap Khiri Khan. The businesses are involved with land and property development.

Companies that allegedly infringe the law for having Thais acting as nominees for foreigners to hold majority shares will be further investigated by the Department of Special Investigation.

Safeguard duty on steel products

Thailand will temporarily impose a safeguard duty on hot-rolled flat steel products with certain alloys such as boron and chromium, coils and non-coils imported from China, Japan, South Korea and India for 200 days to protect the domestic industry.

The Commerce Ministry's anti-dumping and countervailing committee agreed last week to impose an import duty of 33 per cent while it investigates whether it needs to impose more stringent safeguards to protect local steel companies.

The safeguard measure is considered necessary to help the local industry thrive amid heightened competition from cheap imports flooding the market during the period of investigation by the authority.

Normally, Thailand needs to use about 5 million-6 tonnes of these kinds of steel. About two million tonnes are imported, mainly from China.

The normal duty is 5 per cent.