On September 15, 2021, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a prospective new scheme that will enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in Thailand to raise funds through public offerings. The SEC regulations to implement this new scheme are expected by the first quarter of 2022.
Since 2019, the SEC has allowed SMEs and startups in Thailand to raise funds via private placements or crowdfunding. The new SEC scheme will allow SMEs and startups to raise funds on a larger scale via a new type of public offering (the so-called SME-PO). The SEC also plans to establish the “SME Board,” a secondary market for trading the stocks of SMEs.
Under the new SEC scheme, SMEs and startups that wish to proceed with an SME-PO must be structured as public companies with investor protection mechanisms in accordance with the Public Company Act B.E. 2535…
