Thailand plans to overhaul listing rules

Bearish market: An investor walks past an electronic board displaying live market data at a stock broker’s office in Bangkok. Thai stocks are the worst performers in Asia this year with foreign investors offloading a net US$3.1bil (RM14.4bil) so far this year. — Reuters

BANGKOK: Thailand plans to tighten listing rules as a major accounting scandal, debt defaults and unexplained share gyrations rattle investors, putting the nation’s key stock index on course for its lowest close in more than two years.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s (SET) board on Wednesday approved a “sweeping revamp of listing regulations” that includes increasing the ratio of free-float and setting a higher threshold for profitability and shareholder’s equity.