Singapore’s central bank MAS has proposed a common protocol for the usage of digital money in the country, while Thailand is tightening rules for listing and increasing the scrutiny of IPO applicants.
MAS proposes protocol for the use of digital money in SG
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published a whitepaper proposing a common protocol to specify conditions for the use of digital money in the country.
Digital money refers to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenised bank deposits and stablecoins on a distributed ledger. The protocol aims to enable users access to digital money using e-wallets of their choice and can be used across multiple use cases.
The whitepaper was developed together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Banca d’Italia, Bank of Korea, financial institutions and other fintech firms.
It added that financial institutions and fintechs are already launching trials to test the usage of purpose-bound money (PBM) under various scenarios involving online e-commerce (Amazon, FAZZ and Grab) and programmable rewards (DBS, Grab, FAZZ, NETS and UOB).
“This collaboration among industry players and policymakers has helped achieve important advances in settlement efficiency, merchant acquisition, and user experience with the use of digital money. More importantly, it has enhanced the prospects for digital money becoming a key component of the future financial and payments landscape,” said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of MAS.
This whitepaper builds on MAS’s Project Orchid, and aims to engender greater research between central banks, financial institutions and fintechs in order to understand the design considerations of digital money.
PBM source codes and software prototypes developed under Project Orchid have been released for public access, and demonstrate how PBMs can be used to embed digital money in escrow arrangements.
Thailand’s stock regulator to tighten listing rules
Thailand’s stock exchange regulator has announced plans to tighten rules for listing and increase scrutiny of IPO applicants in the country’s main and secondary bourses.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s (SET) board approved a “sweeping revamp” of listing rules which require higher free float and profitability and shareholders’ equity, according to an official statement. The minimum paid-up capital for both bourses, which remains the same, will need to align with the nature of the business and maximise the use of the capital market.
The ratio for the public offering allocation for small-sized companies will be increased to improve liquidity in the Market for Alternative Investment board (mai) — Thailand’s secondary market.
“The sweeping regulatory overhaul for SET- and mai-listed companies is in line with the three-year strategic plan (2023-2025) aimed at widening fundraising opportunities for businesses of every size and addressing the current pain points,” said SET’s President Pakorn Peetathawatchai.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is also bolstering the oversight of listed companies by warning investors on companies with exacerbating financial position and operating performance, debt defaults, or disclaimers of opinion audit reports among others.
Backdoor-listed companies will face stricter probes from the SET to ensure that companies meet the qualifications, regardless of the listing method.