Tag Archives: Thai Securities and Exchange Commission

Guest Post: Fighting Corporate Corruption in Thailand, Part Two — Private Initiatives

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Karin Zarifi, an independent consultant to the Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand, contributes the following post (the second in a two-part series on combating corporate corruption among Thai public companies):

In my last post, I discussed how the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was undertaking innovative measures, in conjunction with private sector initiatives, to fight corruption and encourage good corporate governance in Thai public companies. One of the SEC’s most important partners in its efforts is the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), on which approximately 600 companies are listed. The SET and the SEC have been promoting their own and each other’s initiatives, as well as those of private sector organizations like the Thai Institute of Directors (IOD) and the Thaipat Institute, in ways that are encouraging, and seem to be helping Thailand to become a corporate sustainability leader among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries.

The role of the SET in fighting corruption cannot be overlooked. Stock exchanges are uniquely positioned to use their listing and disclosure requirements to encourage sustainable practices, including anticorruption, by listed companies and allow consideration by investors. The role of stock exchanges in wealthy countries — most notably the New York Stock Exchange — in imposing ethics and disclosure requirements on listed companies is already well-known. The SET’s recent initiatives demonstrate that stock exchanges in developing countries can also play this role. Although a stock exchange’s anticorruption initiatives cannot substitute for appropriate action by government regulators, they are a vital complement to government efforts to prohibit bribery and corruption. Continue reading →

Guest Post: Fighting Corporate Corruption in Thailand, Part One — Securities Regulation

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Karin Zarifi, an independent consultant to the Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand, contributes the following post (the first in a two-part series on combating corporate corruption among Thai public companies):

In Thailand, despite increased focus on anticorruption, corporate governance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) improvements in the private sector (see, e.g., here and here), the Thai business community does not seem convinced that anticorruption is in its interest, at least short-term. Only last April, companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) were telling the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that they were unwilling to stay away from paying “tea money” (that is, bribes), for fear of losing out to competitors. Yet the last nine months have seen considerable progress on this front.

Some of the progress has been driven by private sector initiatives, including initiatives spearheaded by the SET. I will discuss these in my next post. But much of the progress has been driven by the Thai SEC. As Jeena Kim pointed out in a recent post on this blog (in the context of South Korea) securities regulators are well-positioned — and often better-positioned than public prosecutors — to take effective action against corporate corruption. But whereas Ms. Kim highlighted the Korean securities regulator’s ability to enforce South Korea’s foreign anti-bribery laws, the Thai example illustrates how securities regulators can encourage the development of a culture of compliance, good corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility more generally, using tools beyond simply enforcing the securities laws. Continue reading →