The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) has introduced a draft amendment to the regulation of the initial coin offering (ICO) process. The proposed changes aim to reduce the administrative burden on private investors and platforms, as well as to align local legislation with international standards.
This is reported by Finway
Main Changes in Investor Testing
One of the SEC’s key initiatives is the elimination of the mandatory retesting of investor knowledge every three months. From now on, if an investor has already passed the relevant testing, it does not need to be repeated quarterly. This will allow ordinary investors to participate in token offerings without the unnecessary procedures that were previously required before each investment.
At the same time, a mandatory suitability test will be established for all retail market participants—an assessment of investment appropriateness. This check will determine how well an investor’s risk profile aligns with the risks of a specific financial product. The new rules stipulate that these tests must be updated at least once every two years, significantly simplifying the process compared to the previous three-month requirement.
“This proposal aims to reduce the burden on both ICO portals and investors by eliminating the need for assessments every three months,” the regulator stated.
Additional Initiatives and New Opportunities for the Market
Institutional and professional investors will continue to be exempt from such checks. This creates a balance between liberalization for experienced players and enhanced protection for less experienced retail investors.
Jagdish Pandya, founder of Blockon Ventures and organizer of Thai Blockchain Week 2019, notes that the implementation of knowledge and investment appropriateness tests will help limit the participation of incompetent investors in potentially risky ICOs and prevent a recurrence of the widespread mistakes from the era of mass fraudulent token sales. He also emphasized that the Thai cryptocurrency market is one of the most progressive in the region, and the local ICO platform has already become a benchmark even for countries like the UAE and Hong Kong.
The public discussion of the proposed regulatory changes will continue until August 1, 2025. The regulator encourages all interested parties to submit their comments, which may be considered in the final approval of the new regulations.
In addition to changes in the ICO sector, in June, the SEC of Thailand initiated consultations regarding allowing exchanges to issue their own tokens, provided that stricter transparency requirements are implemented to prevent insider trading. Pilot programs for implementing crypto payments in tourist areas are also being tested in the country, and retail investors may gain access to spot Bitcoin ETFs.