While complete details of such legal framework have not been disclosed yet, we know that the regulation currently limits investments for retail investors at 50,000 (about $1,400) baht per offering, and at a maximum of 500,000 baht (about $14,000) per year. Companies, instead, can raise up to 20 million bath (about $558,000)per year from retail investors and up to a maximum of 40 million baht (about $1,116,000), including the capital coming from professional investors.
Some local authorities and policymakers are fully supporting the birth of an online investing market in Thailand, as they see it as way to help local businesses access capital and create innovation. In fact, lately, in Thailand the banks have tightened lending criteria as the economy falls short of government growth targets and the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises defaulting on loans rises. In this situation, several SME are having hard times to find capital for their activities.
It was in a similar context of economic crisis, that crowdfunding has developed in the western countries. However there the approach, in most of the cases, has been more bottom-up, with platforms becoming more and more relevant till the point where the regulators had to intervene. In the Thai case the approach seems more top-down, with the financial authority proposing a regulation when the market is still at its infancy stage. Will it work? Only time will tell, and if it did, the Thai SEC has declared that it’s ready to create a legal framework also for peer-to-peer lending.
References
Thailand eyes crowdfunding for small firms as credit tightens. Reuters (2015)
Some local authorities and policymakers are fully supporting the birth of an online investing market in Thailand, as they see it as way to help local businesses access capital and create innovation. In fact, lately, in Thailand the banks have tightened lending criteria as the economy falls short of government growth targets and the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises defaulting on loans rises. In this situation, several SME are having hard times to find capital for their activities.
It was in a similar context of economic crisis, that crowdfunding has developed in the western countries. However there the approach, in most of the cases, has been more bottom-up, with platforms becoming more and more relevant till the point where the regulators had to intervene. In the Thai case the approach seems more top-down, with the financial authority proposing a regulation when the market is still at its infancy stage. Will it work? Only time will tell, and if it did, the Thai SEC has declared that it’s ready to create a legal framework also for peer-to-peer lending.
References
Thailand eyes crowdfunding for small firms as credit tightens. Reuters (2015)
About the author - Irene Tordera Born and raised in Milan, Italy, Irene is an International Business graduate, with a strong interest for innovative ideas that can simplify our lives. During her studies, she co-founded an online community for sportspeople and worked in marketing positions at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and at the European Business Angel Network, in Brussels. She is a passionate blogger about crowdfunding and the startup ecosystem. |