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The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning securities companies not to offer unusually low trading fees, to avoid intense competition that could hurt the securities industry.
In the past, some firms have offered low fees that might not have reflected their actual operating costs. This had the potential to stir intense competition that could eventually hurt the securities industry as the quality of service rendered to clients and investors could be affected, said Rapee Sucharitakul, secretary-general of the SEC.
Hence the SEC has requested that securities companies set fees that will ensure quality service and their own long-term business sustainability and profitability.

SME BANK POSTS NET PROFIT OF BT961M
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand posted net profit of Bt961 million for the first nine months of this year, while its non-performing loans (NPLs) were reduced by Bt887 million month-on-month in September after restructuring and a sell-off of its debts.
Salinee Wangtal, chairman of SME Bank, said that last month alone, net profit was Bt124 million, thanks to good-quality loans and, as a result, more interest receivables. Its net interest margin increased from 2.25 per cent at the end of June to 2.52 per cent at the end of September.
Its capital adequacy ratio is 10.25 per cent. At the end of September, NPLs totalled Bt26.12 million, or 30.87 per cent of total loans.
At the end of last month, SME Bank had outstanding loans of Bt84.62 billion with 69,147 borrowers. It had seen a total of 1,472 new borrowers since the end of last year.
As of this Thursday, the bank had seen applications for its 4-per-cent-interest policy loans worth about Bt12.95 billion from 2,837 customers. Some 76.67 per cent of these clients were small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the country’s economic slowdown. So far, the bank has approved Bt2.01 billion for 630 clients.

AGODA.COM FINED FOR BREACHES
The popular hotel-booking website Agoda.com has been fined for not legally registering as a business in Taiwan and for failing to issue unified invoices.
The website was fined by the National Taxation Bureau of Taipei (NTBT) for more than 20 million New Taiwan dollars (Bt22 million) for not legally registering as a business in Taiwan and for failing to issue unified invoices, the bureau said.
The Singapore-based company had established an office in Taiwan under the name of its affiliated company in order to expand its reach in the Taiwan market and build partnerships with domestic hotels, according to the NTBT.
The bureau charged the company for breaking the Business Tax Law and the Tax Collection Act, as well as suspected tax evasion. Besides being required to register as a business, Agoda.com faces a penalty of more than NT$10 million and twice the amount of underpaid tax, according to government officials.
 – The China Post/ANN