SEC Seeks Public Comments on the Protocol over Suspicious Circumstances

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing a draft regulation for defining suspicious circumstances related to commission of offense and the procedure for obtaining facts related to such circumstances under Section 89/25 of the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (SEA) to protect investors’ interest more effectively.

 

Pursuant to Section 89/25 of the SEA, the auditor has the duty to report suspicious circumstances that were found from the audit in accordance with the auditing standards. SEC therefore proposes the principle  and the draft regulation which would require the auditor to report to the Audit Committee of securities company or the Audit Committee of listed company any suspicious circumstance that indicates that a director, manager or the person responsible for the operation of a juristic person may have committed an offense under Section 89/25, for example, taking the assets of the juristic person with dishonest intent, obtaining unlawful gains which damages the juristic person, or altering, shortening or falsifying documents.

 

In addition, SEC has prescribed a procedure for obtaining facts relating to such circumstances to be in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and Provisions of the Law on Professional Accountants, such as the Thai Standards on Auditing (TSA) concerning the Auditor’s Responsibility to Consider Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements and Consideration of Laws and Regulations in an Audit of Financial Statements. (For more information on TSA, please visit: https://www.tfac.or.th/Article/Detail/119155 .)

 

The consultation paper regarding this matter is available at https://www.sec.or.th/EN/Pages/PB_Detail.aspx?SECID=698 . Stakeholders and interested parties are welcome to give comments and suggestions via the website or send an email to [email protected] or [email protected]. The public hearing ends on 12 April 2021.