ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) was established under auspices of ASEAN Finance Ministers in 2004 to serve as a forum for heads of securities regulators in ASEAN region to discuss policy issues relating to capital market development. ACMF  is currently chaired by Mr. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Secretary-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand

ASEAN and Plus Standards

A recent notable achievement of ACMF is the development of the harmonized disclosure standards for multi-jurisdictions offerings of equity and debt securities in ASEAN, namely, ASEAN and Plus Standards. ASEAN and Plus Standards bring ease and cost savings to issuers who make offerings of securities across borders within ASEAN and also enhances the attractiveness of ASEAN as a combined capital market for fund-raising, as well as underlines the combined ASEAN securities as an attractive asset class by raising the disclosure standards among ASEAN members to international level.

ASEAN and Plus Standards introduces two levels of standards, comprising a set of common ASEAN Standards, and a set of limited additional standards known as Plus Standards.

The SEC, Thailand, along with the Securities Commission, Malaysia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore jointly announced that they have implemented the ASEAN and Plus Standards Scheme on June 12th 2009. The joint press release can be found here.

For the summary of foreign issuance of equity and debt securities, please click.

 ASEAN Capital Markets Integration

In addition, ACMF also embarked upon the drafting of a roadmap for ASEAN capital market integration, known as “ACMF’s Implementation Plan”, under the objective of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2015. The initiative began after receiving the endorsement at the ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting (AFMM) held in Danang, Vietnam, in April 2008. The project was undertaken with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). A group of 4 well- known experts from the private sector was also formed as the group of experts to assist ACMF to ensure the Implementation Plan would be pragmatic and beneficial to the private sector. Members of the group of experts are:

In addition, several capital market experts from the private sector in ASEAN were invited as National Experts to provide technical input towards the development of the Implementation Plan

The drafting began in mid-2008 and was completed in March 2009, with a series of discussions and meetings among ACMF members, Group of Experts, National Experts and the consulting team. In addition, inputs from agencies such as the Ministries of Finance, the Central Banks and the stock exchanges were gathered during the process.

The Implementation Plan was endorsed  by the ASEAN Finance Ministers at the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting (AFMM) held in Pattaya, Thailand on April 9, 2009.

The Implementation Plan seeks to achieve the goals of the AEC Blueprint 2015 by offering a comprehensive set of strategic initiatives and formulating specific implementation actions and milestones. The initiatives cover three broad themes.

ACMF recognizes that an effective implementation plan must have clear prioritisation. Therefore, the Implementation Plan envisages three distinct phases (2009-2010, 2011-2012, and 2013-2015). The core strategy in the Plan is a mutual recognition and harmonization process of expanding scope and country coverage. The initial phases of the Plan focus on establishing bilateral arrangements, and subsequently moving towards multilateral arrangements as more countries become ready to opt-in. Further, the Plan focuses on liberalization initiatives for non-retail investors first, with subsequent opening up to retail investors, complemented by an enhanced investor protection regime.

The following are key underlying principles of the Implementation Plan:

Texts of the Implementation Plan for ASEAN capital markets integration are available  here.

More information on the Implementation Plan can be found in the speech of Mr. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Secretary-General, SEC Thailand and Chairman, ASEAN Capital Market Forum presented to the 2nd OECD Southeast Asia Regional Forum in Bangkok.

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The SEC is a member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which was formed in 1983.

IOSCO is recognized as the leading international policy forum for securities regulators. The organization's membership regulates more than 95% of the world's securities markets in more than 100 jurisdictions. The objectives of the IOSCO are:

 IOSCO’s Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Co-operation and the Exchange of Information

At the 33rd IOSCO Annual Conference in Paris in June, 2008, the SEC has become a signatory member to IOSCO’s Multilateral Memorandum of Understandings (MMoU), joining 52 securities and derivatives regulators around the world (9 in Asia-Pacific Region). The efforts reflected continuous commitment by the SEC to remove limitation on enforcement cooperation with foreign regulators to fulfill the requirement attached to the MMoU.

The MMoU, widely accepted as global multilateral information-sharing arrangement among securities regulators around the world, has enhanced the SEC’s ability to cooperate and request for information from other jurisdictions which will ultimately enhance the enforcement capabilities of the SEC.

 IOSCO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC)

The SEC is a member and has been actively involved in APRC. APRC is one of IOSCO’s four Regional Standing Committees, which meet to discuss specific regional problems of the members of the Organization that constitute them. Members of APRC comprise more than 20 regulators from 21 jurisdictions.

In addition, Mr. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Secretary-General of the SEC once served as Chairman of IOSCO APRC for 2 consecutive terms during 2005 – 2008.

Apart from being a member of APRC, the SEC also actively participate in IOSCO’s Emerging Markets Committee and Implementation Task Force (ITF) by taking parts as members in the EMC’s working group and ITF’s sub-group.

For more information on IOSCO, please visit IOSCO website at http://www.iosco.org

The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR)

The SEC was given a membership of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) in September 2010. This well-respected international forum accedes the SEC participation and contribution in terms of global audit regulatory developments and opportunity to share insights, knowledge of audit market environment and practical experiences of independent audit regulatory activities as well as promote collaboration on regulatory activities and matters pertaining to the public accounting profession.

The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators was established on 15 September 2006, based on the following activities:
1. To share knowledge of the audit market environment and practical experience of independent audit regulatory activity
2. To promote collaboration in regulatory activity; and
3. To provide a focus for contacts with other international organizations which have an interest in audit quality

More details of IFIAR available at https://www.ifiar.org