FINTECHS TO BE ALLOWED THREE SERVICES

The three services are private funds, investment advisory services, and clearing and settlement services.
The SEC can grant permission for those services without amending its law, Tipsuda Thavaramara, deputy secretary-general of the SEC, said yesterday.
The objective of the sandbox scheme is to encourage the development of innovative financial services that have never been used in Thailand, such as robo-advisers for investors. 
The SEC will give fintechs about 12-18 months before considering giving them licences.

CHEVRON’S PRODUCTION PERIOD EXTENDED
The Cabinet yesterday approved the proposal of the Energy Ministry to extend the petroleum production period of Chevron Offshore (Thailand) in the 88/32 field in the Gulf of Thailand by 10 years from the original expiration date of 2020. 
The original concession term is 20 years.

MSLGROUP JOINS WITH ARCH PR
Paris-based MSLGROUP welcomed Arch PR – the public relations consulting arm of Publicis Groupe in Thailand – to its network with immediate effect to help expand its client base here.
Sonkran Sethesompobe, chief executive officer of Publicis One Thailand, said yesterday that after joining forces with MSLGROUP, the network expects to see at least 15-per-cent growth next year, mainly driven by assignments from local clients. 
Arc PR is engaged by big names such as Proctor and Gamble, Volvo, Mead Johnson and Merlin Entertainment, as well as local firms. 

CABINET NOD TO REINSTATED FIDF ROLE
The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft law empowering the Bank of Thailand to resume the role of the Financial Institutions Development Fund to collect money from banks for a fund to bail out financial institutions during a financial crisis.
The central bank’s FIDF played a vital role in bailing out cash-strapped financial institutions during the 1997 financial crisis in addition to its usual responsibilities of guaranteeing full repayment to depositors and creditors to maintain public confidence and system stability.
After the 1997 crisis, the FIDF gradually wound down its roles. In 2003 it trimmed its guaranteeing responsibilities to only depositors and eventually ceased providing such guarantees altogether after the Deposit Protection Agency Act came into force on August 11, 2008. 
The FIDF’s current role is limited to managing its own assets. 
Kittiya Todhanakasem, chief financial officer of Siam Commercial Bank, said the FIDF should take on vital roles as it did in the past, but in practical terms, the bank does not think the BOT will assign the FIDF to collect money from banks, as they now pay 0.47 per cent of their deposit base to FIDF and the Deposit Protection Agency.