Stock Exchange Of Thailand Announces Board of Governors' Resolutions June 2001

Mr. Vicharat Vichit-Vadakan, President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), revealed the SET's Board of Governors resolutions in June 2001 meeting with the following details:

Listing requirements amendments in order to be consistent with tax measurements in accordance with the Thai capital market development measures.
The SET board approved amendments to the SET and MAI (Market for Alternative Investments) listing criteria to be consistent with the Thai capital market development measures, to support development of more alternative investment products, and to facilitate more convenient listing on the market. The main criteria approved are as follows:
- Approval to accept state enterprises transforming to become public companies for listing on the SET, with as yet no requirement to submit an application to initiate a share offering from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). However the company must have approval to make a public offering from SEC, and complete the public offering within one year, before the shares are traded on the SET.
  These privatized companies have to abide by the SET disclosure regulations when they are listed, in order to provide the general public sufficient information, before the public offering is made.
- Amending the MAI listing criteria regarding the paid-up capital of companies wishing to apply to be less than 200 million baht. This is to be consistent with tax relief measures, which give privileges for corporate tax relief, from 30% to 20%, for companies listing on the MAI within three years, and abandoning the requirement for a company raising capital on the MAI to have a financial advisor, which will be an option for the company itself, again for three years. For companies with registered capital of over 200 million baht, but do not have track records specified by the SET, the SET has specified special criteria enabling these companies to list on the SET temporarily for three years.
The SET will ask for SEC approval regarding the amended listing criteria before implementation.
Determining methods to stimulate listed companies to increase their share holders distribution to minor shareholders.
The SET board has been notified of methods of increasing the share distribution to minor shareholders in listed companies, which reflects the amount of shares able to be circulated in the SET, with the term "retail investor" suitably defined as follows:
- Shareholders owning less than 5% of the paid up capital, including shareholdings of relevant parties, whether individual or corporate.
- Shareholders who are not directors or staff of companies that have the condition of not being able to sell shares.
- Shareholders who are not government agencies.
Besides this, there is a proposal to adjust the listing criteria to require a greater shares distribution to minor shareholders , that is, not less than 20-30% of the paid-up capital, where the SET will relax the period of sale to retail investors for large companies with a paid-up capital of over 10,000 million baht, as appropriate, while there has been a change in the criteria to maintain status as a listed company, where the shares distribution for minor shareholders will be increased from a minimum of 10% to a minimum of 15% of the paid-up capital.
The SET will give a period of one year for listed companies to complete amendments in the qualifications of the share distribution to minor shareholders according to the new criteria for maintaining status as a listed company. If a listed company cannot implement the amendments, it will be moved to a sector in which trading is carried out as a Call Market, where trading of securities is limited to a specified period of time, until the qualifications have been completely amended, at which time the security will be moved back to the original sector.
The above principles are only guidelines. The SET Board of Governors will continue its deliberations regarding the most appropriate methods for share distribution increases in listed companies after the SET has completed gathering all listed companies' shareholdings.
Approval of the establishment of the Back Office Service Bureau The SET board approved a budget of 16 million baht to establish a Back Office Service Bureau as a special agency under management of the structure of the SET, with the objective of providing back office services to securities companies. It is expected that the service will be provided around October 2001.

Mr. Vicharat said that, "providing services is a role which the SET considers to be especially important. The Back Office Service Bureau we are establishing will help reduce the costs for operations which are duplicated by the back office work of securities companies, as well as costs arising from additional system development, which will result in the rapid development and improvement of services, and allowing for future continuity. This will support companies to concentrate more fully on providing services to their clients and marketing services.