Thailand's SEC Expects to Approve 5 ICOs This Month

Thailand's securities regulator is reportedly expecting to approve five initial coin offerings (ICOs) later this month.

According to the Bangkok Post on Wednesday, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that, while 50 ICOs in the country are currently applying for regulatory approval, five of them are already in a position to move ahead.

However, the token sales will have to wait until later in June, when a royal decree on cryptocurrency, finalized last month, formally comes into law.

While it remains unclear why these ICO projects are likely to win approval, Thawatchai Kiatkwankul, director of the SEC's corporate finance division, said projects need to have commercial value and go through vetting before they can be considered for registration.

If the registrations do go ahead, it will mark Thailand as one of the first nations to allow ICOs to proceed legally in a regulated environment. Other jurisdictions including Bermuda and Russia are also moving to introduce frameworks that would allow approved ICO projects.

According to the report, the royal decree was first announced on May 15, following a months-long process that saw public hearings and legislative debates around the issue.

Besides ordering ICO projects to register with the financial watchdog and to receive approvals before starting a token sale, the law also puts a 300,000 baht (around $9,000) hard cap on contributions by individual retail investors for each project.

In addition, other industry players such as exchanges, brokers and dealers that are involved in cryptocurrency transactions are also required to register with the SEC within 90 days of the law's introduction, the report said.

Thai baht image via Shutterstock