The Securities and Exchange Commission,Thailand was established in 1992 and performs the functions of the capital market supervisory agency with the status of an independent state agency.
The SEC was founded under the promulgation of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535, with a mission to:

“Develop and Supervise the Thai Capital Market to Ensure Efficiency, Fairness, Transparency, and Integrity”.

The SEC’s 2013-2015 strategic plan comprises four key strategies including

(1) reaching out to all parties to allow businesses and the public to make greater use of the capital market;
(2) building strong foundation for sustainable development;
(3) increasing efficiency of the regulatory regime; and
(4) leveraging benefits from the growth of emerging Asia, with the objectives for the Thai capital market to serve the needs of all types of business fundings and investors, facilitate capacity building and enhance competitiveness of the private sector, as well as foster sustainable growth of the country’s economy.

SEC’s History

The development of the country’s capital market is considered to be an important source of funds for medium to long-term investment. It enables entrepreneurs who are in need of capital for their business operations to mobilize funds directly from the public by issuing and offering diversity of securities. Public issuance and offering of various securities allows businesses to raise funds at lower cost than the conventional medium through loans from domestic and foreign financial intermediaries. The development of the capital market thus plays a crucial role in enhancing as well as fortifying the stability of the overall economic system.

Despite the fact that the Thai capital market plays such a crucial role in the country’s economic system, in the past, the supervision and development of the Thai capital market was governed under various laws and regulations. To initiate a new legal framework and mark a new era for the Thai capital market, on March 16, 1992, the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) or “the SEC Act” was promulgated and came into force on May 16, 1992 so as to reinforce the unity, consistency, and efficiency in supervision and development of the market. The enactment of the SEC Act empowered the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand to be established as an independent state agency with responsibility for supervision and development of the capital market under the direction and guidance of the Board of the SEC.

On July 3, 2003, the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546 (2003) was promulgated and came into force on January 6, 2004 so as to create a legal certainty for derivative contracts, provide a regulatory framework for derivatives markets and intermediaries, and allow the SEC to oversee the financial integrity of the market and take action to prevent adverse systemic effect.