SEC supports funds 'supermarket'

Tired of having to contact individual asset-management companies about buying their products?

The headache will be cleared up soon, as the Securities and Exchange Commission is allowing the opening of a supermarket where the wares of many fund companies will be conveniently available in one place.

"Increased investor access to the capital market will help boost public awareness in the importance of personal finance. It will contribute to a rising number of investors, of course, not only in investment units but also in other financial products," Vorapol Socatiyanurak, secretary-general of the SEC, said yesterday.

"For business operators, it is such an excellent opportunity to utilise all channels to the fullest extent possible for customer-base expansion in preparation for more intense competition. In the end, the Thai capital market will be more developed in both horizontal and vertical dimensions," he said.

The revisions will help promote brokerages. The more service providers, the greater access to a variety of financial services. More investment choices will be available to serve investors' risk appetite. Also, investors will have more opportunities to obtain a wide range of investment advice from independent business operators.

Applications for the "Type D" licence to operate the supermarket will be open for companies with at least Bt10 million in paid-up capital.

A lower annual licence fee will be offered for companies selling at least three types of mutual funds, such as fixed-income, equity and mixed funds, from at least 10 asset management companies.

The SEC will seek revisions in the Finance Ministry's regulations as this service is currently only allowed for securities companies, commercial banks, insurance companies and new companies.

The minimum paid-up capital requirement will also be cut from Bt100 million to Bt10 million for applicants with no clients' assets in custody, no proprietary trading and no responsibility for the clearing and settlement of securities.

Companies operating other businesses will be eligible to apply for the Type D licence under specific requirements. For example, their businesses must be relevant, supportive or beneficial to the applying securities business without any conflicts of interest.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/05/14/sec-supports-funds-supermarket/