Securities administration - Thailand
Income collection
| Books Close date a | Basis for entitlement | Standard interest calculation rule | |
| Government bonds | 1 month before interest Payment date | Settled position on Books Close date | 365-day basis |
| State enterprise bonds | 15 to 30 calendar days before interest Payment date | Settled position on Books Close date | 365-day basis |
| Corporate debt instruments | At least 14 calendar days before interest Payment date | Settled position on Books Close date | 365-day basis |
| Equities, Warrants, Unit trusts | Ex-date b +3 | Settled position on Books Close date | Not applicable |
a. The date on which securities positions are fixed and holders are recorded as eligible to receive entitlements.
b. The first day on which securities are traded without entitlement.
Equities
Dividends are paid usually twice a year, around March/April and September. For all SET listed shares, the TSD acts as paying agent. Dividends are paid out by cheque via ECS or by direct electronic transfer via MediaClear.
Fixed income securities
Interest payment of most debentures is done on a semi-annual basis.
Corporate actions
Most common corporate events
The most common events in the Thai market are cash and stock dividends, rights issues (tradable and non-tradable), warrant conversions, tender offers, stock splits.
Corporate actions announcements are generally made four to six weeks before books close date.
Subscription periods start about two weeks after books close date and last about one week. Shares resulting from rights are credited via the TSD six to eight weeks after the end of the subscription period and rank pari passu with the old shares when trading commences.
Proxy voting
According to the Public Limited Company Act, the company must announce the meeting notification at least seven calendar days prior to the meeting date. It must also be published in the newspaper at least three calendar days prior to the meeting.
In practice, the companies dispatch notice of AGM/EGM four weeks before the meeting.
Corporate announcements, proxy materials and meeting agendas must be issued in English and in Thai at the same time.
Proxy voting is possible in the Thai market and according to the market practice the voting right must be assigned to one proxy only.
Attendance is not required as votes can be lodged in writing with the registrar.
Foreign investors holding Local Shares are not allowed to exercise voting rights.
Trading of rights
Not all right issues in Thailand are tradable. Only issues with tradable feature called Transferable Subscription Rights (TSR) can be traded. It is the issuer's choice whether to issue tradable or nontradable rights.
Round-up / round-down of fractional shares
Trading activities are not allowed by the banking authorities to custodian banks. Therefore, as a market practice, fractional shares will be rounded up or down by the company without compensation to the shareholders.