Cabinet backs wider SEC powers in capital-market overhaul
Four amendment bills would update electronic processes, secondary markets, fundraising and audit oversight, but still require parliamentary approval.
Thailand’s Cabinet has approved four amendment bills that would allow Securities and Exchange Commission officials to join investigations into certain serious capital-market offences while updating regulations covering electronic processes, secondary markets, fundraising and audit firms.
The proposed investigative role would apply to specified offences considered capable of severely damaging confidence in the capital-market system or the national economy, rather than giving the SEC general authority to investigate every suspected market offence.
The bills were approved on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) after review by the Office of the Council of State. The bills have yet to be considered by Parliament before publication in the Royal Gazette and entry into force.
Despite carrying the names of existing legislation, the four drafts are amendments to the existing ones. The package would revise:
- the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992);
- the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546 (2003);
- the Trust for Transactions in Capital Market Act B.E. 2550 (2007); and
- the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018).
The first three drafts use the formal “No. …” designation applied to numbered amendment acts. The fourth is expressly entitled a draft Act Amending the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses. The existing laws would therefore remain in place with their provisions revised if the bills complete the legislative process.
Joint role in high-impact investigations
The enforcement provisions would authorise SEC officials to serve as joint investigators in certain categories of offences that have a severe impact on confidence in the capital market or the wider economy.
The draft legislation does not give the regulator an unrestricted investigative mandate. The joint role would be confined to offences falling within the categories specified by law.
The package would also revise penalty provisions and introduce regulatory fines in line with Section 77 of the 2017 Constitution and the Act on Imposition of Regulatory Fines B.E. 2565 (2022).
The changes are intended to make enforcement faster and more effective, particularly in serious cases in which delays could damage investor confidence or the functioning of the market.
Digital processes and business supervision
The digital-market reforms would expand the legal recognition of electronic processes across the capital market.
Provisions would also be added to regulate providers of systems considered significant to capital-market operations. The information released by the SEC did not identify the providers that would fall within this category or set out the proposed supervisory requirements.
Rules governing major shareholders of securities companies and derivatives business operators would be aligned to provide a more consistent regulatory approach.
Additional provisions would strengthen oversight of personnel working in securities and derivatives businesses.
Secondary markets, fundraising and audit firms
The secondary-market reforms would revise provisions governing securities trading centres to reduce restrictions on their establishment and operation.
Additional supervisory measures would be introduced to improve oversight of the stock exchange, while new provisions would cover securities investments made by associations connected with securities businesses.
Fundraising rules would also be revised, including those governing the issuance and offering of securities and debentures.
The legislation would extend takeover provisions to cover trusts and strengthen supervision of audit firms and other service providers connected with the capital market.
The sixth area of reform covers matters related to the SEC’s organisational administration.
Pornanong Budsaratragoon, secretary-general of the SEC, said the four bills would help modernise Thailand’s capital-market structure, improve transparency and competitiveness, and strengthen supervision of business operators and related service providers.
She said faster and more robust enforcement would support investor confidence and create conditions for sustainable capital-market growth, while strengthening the market’s role in financing the Thai economy.
The bills will next enter the parliamentary process. If passed, they must be published in the Royal Gazette before taking effect under the commencement provisions of each law.
