Businesses urged Thai govt to speed up passing two bills

BANGKOK, February 18 (TNA) - Business operators engaging in Thailand's capital and securities markets have urged the government to accelerate parliamentary passages of two draft bills concerning anti-money laundering and terrorism before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is established by 2015. Their requests were made today, just after the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) decided to include Thailand on its blacklist of countries failing to meet international standards. Expressing his views on the FATF’s decision, coming days after three bomb blasts on Sukhumvit 71 Road in Bangkok on February 14, Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn, President of the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations and also chief of the Securities Analysts Association, said the FATF’s decision would affect Thailand in the long run, as foreign countries would be more careful on scrutinising Thai baht investing overseas, raising Thailand's business costs subsequently. Paiboon also warned that the Thai economy should definitely be affected if the two bills, drafted by Anti-Money Laundering Office, are not enforced before the AEC is formed although investment in Thailand may not be affected in the short-term. Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, president of Asia Plus Securities Public Co., Ltd., joined Paiboon and even Thai authorities and political leaders, namely Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong and former Thai Democrat prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in echoing similar concerns, but assessing that investment on the Thai stock market should not be affected, as authorities concerned could easily trace where the invested money came from. (TNA)