Financial Crime World

Fintech Regulatory Challenges in Myanmar and Thailand

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Overview of Fintech Regulations in Myanmar

The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has issued a public notice warning individuals against participating in unregulated digital currency transactions. The CBM is ready to enforce regulations by closing bank accounts and pursuing legal action, which may result in imprisonment, fines, or both.

  • The existing legal framework in Myanmar does not recognize digital currencies as official currency.
  • The Foreign Exchange Management Law and the Financial Institutions Law further cement the illegality of cryptocurrency transactions within the nation’s borders.
  • In 2020, the CBM issued a notification prohibiting all persons residing in Myanmar from engaging in digital currency transactions.

Enforcement Measures

  • Shutting down bank accounts
  • Initiating legal proceedings against individuals involved in illicit activities

Fintech Regulatory Developments in Thailand

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has announced its new Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox, which provides an opportunity to experiment with currently restricted financial innovations under a controlled environment.

Programmable Payments Theme

The first announced theme is “programmable payments,” which refers to payment and payment-related transactions with automatic execution upon the fulfillment of a predefined condition utilizing distributed ledger technology (DLT) and a smart contract or comparable technology.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued four notifications amending existing regulations to recognize sustainability-related tokens and institute specific measures for regulating them. The key points are summarized below:

Definitions

  • Sustainability-related tokens are classified into four types:
    • Green tokens
    • Social tokens
    • Sustainability tokens
    • Sustainability-linked tokens

Offering Requirements

  • Approval from the SEC
  • Filing the registration statements and the draft prospectus with the SEC before marketing and offering the sustainability-related tokens to public investors in Thailand, unless exempted.
  • The sustainability-related tokens must be offered through an SEC-approved ICO portal.

The Thai government has introduced four notifications amending existing regulations to recognize sustainability-related tokens and institute specific measures for regulating them. These tokens are intended to offer diverse sustainability-related products to ESG funds in Thailand and drive the growth of a sustainable digital economy in the country.

Definitions

  • Sustainability-related tokens are classified into four types:
    • Green tokens
    • Social tokens
    • Sustainability tokens
    • Sustainability-linked tokens