SEC Secretary-General Rapee Sucharitkul stated that SEC has issued notifications related to the offering of digital token through ICO process and the the approval of ICO portal under the Royal Decree on Digital Asset Businesses, B.E. 2561. The regulation will come into force since 16 July 2018.

Since the royal decree stipulates that the issuance of ICO must be done only through ICO portals which will act as initial screener of ICO issuer. After the related notifications come into effect, SEC will initially approve ICO portals.

ICO portals must be Thai companies with a minimum registered capital of 5 million baht, requiring to have proper management structure and adequate personnel for business operations. ICO portals must be well-prepared to due diligence ICO issuers, assess business plans and distribution of digital tokens, examine and ensure source code that matches the disclosed information, and identify investors’ identity, status and risk-taking ability.

Once ICO portals are approved, SEC will begin assessing digital token offer of ICO issuers.

ICO issuers must be companies established under the Thai legal jurisdiction, with clear business plan and clear rights for digital holders. Disclosure of source code, information disclosure forms, drafted prospectus and financial statements are also required to conform with SEC regulations.

Each ICO can be placed to ultra-high net worth investors, venture capital businesses and private equity funds at an unlimited amount. Investment is capped at no more than 300,000 baht per ICO project for each individual investor, or no more than four times of shareholders’ equity or no more than 70% of total value of offered tokens. ICO issuers are permitted to receive payment for digital tokens in baht or cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin; Bitcoin Cash; Ethereum; Ethereum Classic; Litecoin; Ripple; and Stellar.

Rapee said “SEC is pleased to immediately discuss in detail with those who would like to be approved as ICO portals to be prepared once the notification takes effect. After SEC approves ICO portals, the ICO will then be considered for approval. Despite the regulatory framework on standardization of ICOs and enrichment of investors’ protection against fraud, SEC-approved offer of digital tokens does not guarantee success, prices or returns of fund-raising projects. Investors may suffer losses or find limited choices in swapping digital tokens. Therefore, investors should carefully consider relevant investment information disclosure and ensure their risk-taking ability before making an investment.”

Those who are interested in being ICO portals or ICO issuers of digital tokens can download related notifications at https://www.sec.or.th/digitalasset.

_________________________