Thai stock exchange chief warns of securities transaction tax

A planned tax on securities transactions in Thailand will affect trade and damage the development of the stock exchange in Bangkok, said Pakorn PeeTathawatchai, the president of the market.

The Thai government has announced that they are trading on the trade in shares and cryptocurrencies after the trade and mining of the latter in the country's largely unregulated environment.

"I think it would certainly have an impact on the market, especially on the liquidity side, because the trading volume would be affected by the higher transaction costs," Pakorn said in an interview with the Financial Times about the proposed transaction tax of 0.1 percent.

Thailand suggested the delivery because the country continues to fight to revive growth because the tourism sector suffers from the effects of coronavirus pandemic.

Pakorn said that the Thai stock exchange over the amount of the planned tax, the lead time for compliance with the tax and the question of whether stock exchange -traded funds would be subject to taxation in addition to individual shares.

"Our market has been successful for some time and has developed into one of the very important markets in Asia and even in the world," said Pakorn. "But as soon as this tax comes out, it will be a new adjustment."

The Thai government also is considering raising a flat -rate withholding tax of 15 percent to all cryptocurrency transactions, but was pushed back by the aspiring industry.

Pakorn said that the stock exchange in Bangkok is planning to introduce a stock exchange for digital assets with the aim of opening the trade in the second quarter of the year, subject to the approval of an operating license by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the state.

The market, which is to be called Thai Digital Asset Exchange or TDX, would initially act with investment stamps that are digital securities for an underlying asset, and not cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or ether.

"We would like to provide the investment class a shelf so that the private investment can diversify its investments in a smaller amount," said Pakorn.

Thailands dependent on tourism was hit hard by the pandemic and stressed the public budget.

But cryptocurrency mining and trading have created a rare growth source. According to CryptoCompare, an aggregator who is pursuing the market, Thailand today has one of the largest markets of Southeast Asia for digital currencies.

The interest was partially driven by the devaluation of the Thai baht, which last year lost $ 10 percent of its value compared to the dollar. "This makes Krypto's promise of value more attractive because it protects against the loss of purchasing power from the Thai baht," said David Moreno Darocas, Research Analyst at CryptoCommare.

The increase in activity on the market surprised the supervisory authorities, but the companies quickly intervened in the sector.

Sansiri, the real estate group listed in Bangkok, launched one of Thailand's first digital token, Sirihub Token by the SEC, launched last year, which is supported by sources of income from its real estate projects.

The Bitkub Capital Group, Thailand's largest stock exchange for digital assets, reached an assessment of more than 1 billion USD in 2021 after entering into a joint venture with the SCBX Group, one of the oldest commercial banks in the country in November. The SCB took part in the stock exchange for $ 537 million with $ 51 percent

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