At a Senate committee meeting to investigate the stock acquisition of Post Publishing and the attempted takeover of the Matichon group by GMM Grammy, a senior official from the Bank of Thailand said that there are currently no rules for hostile takeovers being enforced by the central bank. He added that the enforcement of tighter regulations pertaining to cases where banks extend credit for hostile takeovers is likely from now on. When it comes to extending credit, the official added that banks should observe ethics and moral principles.

The proposed Thai-Hong Kong Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) will come into effect from next January if the treaty is signed by both countries by year-end. Commenting on the impending tax treaty, one of Thailand’s top tax lawyers said that Hong Kong companies are likely to benefit significantly from the DTA with the Kingdom. The DTA will give Hong Kong companies a competitive tax advantage; an advantage that Singaporean companies have been enjoying since Thailand signed a DTA with Singapore more than a decade ago. At present, most of the foreign corporation share-trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is routed through Singapore because of the existing DTA between the two countries. Without the DTA, Hong Kong traders are inclined to trade less in SET stock because their corporate clients’ corporate gains are subjected to a 15-per-cent withholding tax.

An official from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has announced that the anti-money laundering law will be revised to include more offences and to give AMLO authorities more power for arrests and investigations. The offences added under the new amendment concern natural resources, the environment, wildlife, foreign exchange, gambling, weapons of war, labor fraud, bidding collusion, share manipulation and excise-tax offences. The amendment will be tabled for House deliberation in August after it has obtained Cabinet approval.

To help improve trade data accuracy, the Customs Department has revised tax procedures for oil imports. With the new revision, oil importers must now settle their tax liabilities within one to two days after the shipments are imported. Authorities would then be able to have a more accurate picture of market demand. Previously, traders were given a timeframe of up to one month to settle oil import tariffs. Importers will have to pay penalties equivalent to one per cent of the monthly shipment value if they do not comply with the new tax regulation.

This November, 300 small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) selected by the Board of Investment (BOI), will participate in the “EU-Thailand Partenariat 2005” event. The event will provide opportunities for the 300 SMEs to form business alliances with over 200 European companies. A BOI spokesperson said that BOI representatives will be visiting the participating European countries to promote the business potential of the 300 Thai SMEs. The Thai companies taking part in the event come from industries such as agriculture and agricultural processing, machinery and equipment, automobile and auto parts, electronics and ICT, fashion, and value-added services. The EU is the second largest investor of Thailand in terms of investment value. For the first half of the year, European countries have received BOI approval for projects worth Bt15.74 billion, a 15.5 per cent rise from last year. As for trade with Thailand, the five most important European countries are Germany, England, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

A senior financial official has announced that financial liberalization will be not discussed in the fourth round of free-trade agreement (FTA) talks with the US, as the financial industry is not ready to compete head-on with US firms. The Director-General of the Fiscal Policy Office said that the Financial Master Plan supports a gradual liberalization that matches Thailand’s level of development so as to ensure economic stability. He added that the country’s sovereignty in macro-economic policies or any policy regarding financial, economic or foreign exchange stability, would not be compromised by the deal. This round of negotiations also includes investments, trade, labor and services.