The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand is moving toward a digital future. It plans to launch a trading system for securities firms using distributed ledger technology (DLT). This move aims to boost digital token trading while improving regulatory oversight.
Token investments are gaining momentum. The SEC has already approved four digital token projects and is reviewing two more. These focus on green finance and investment-based ventures. Five additional parties are in early talks with the regulator. They are exploring the potential of soft power tokens and new fundraising models.
Securities firms will soon gain access to digital token trading. The SEC believes they can leverage their broad investor networks to drive market growth. The new system is expected to enhance market efficiency. It will speed up transactions, increase transparency, and improve accessibility.
SEC aims to fix bond trading delays
The current bond trading process faces delays. Buying bonds from the primary market can take up to two weeks before secondary trading. Investors often struggle with limited access, high prices, and low liquidity. Issuers also deal with time-consuming paperwork and data errors. The SEC wants to change that by fully digitizing bond trading.
Using DLT, the entire trading lifecycle will become modernized. Electronic issuance, settlement, trading, investors’ registration, and dividend payment will be modernized. Participants in a marketplace will not be locked into a single platform.
Companies with private DLT networks can maintain private networks in case they comply with interoperability standards. Others who don’t have a system can use the public chain of the SEC at a relatively affordable price.
A future with several trading chains can become a reality. The SEC sees a networked system in which all transactions occur through a shared bookkeeping record. Two types of issuance will result from this transformation: There will be assets that will issue first in a native digital form, and traditional security will become a digital equivalent.
Open API for investor insights
The benefits of digitalization will include real-time trading, real-time settlement, and increased liquidity. There will be new participants in the marketplace, reduced settlement risk, and investors will have access to the SEC Open API platform, with granular information for effective decision-making.
The SEC’s transition towards a digital direction signifies a new direction for Thailand’s financial sphere. With its transition towards technology, its regulator aims at its marketplace becoming efficient and accessible to all. With its transition towards trading in digital tokens, Thailand takes a significant step towards its future in investments.
