Thailand’s government has appointed finance professor Pornanong Budsaratragoon as secretary-general of the Securities Exchange and Commission, Thailand (SEC).
Pornanong, who was a lecturer in finance and banking at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, will serve for a four-year term.
She succeeds Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, whose term ended in April.
The appointment comes at a time when Thailand’s stock market has lost more than 8% thus far this year, making it one of the worst performers in Asia, partly due to weak investor sentiment over a corporate scandal related to cable manufacturer Stark Corp, according to a fund manager in Bangkok.
Stark’s share price plunged 99% in June after the company failed to file its financial statement for 2022.
Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has frozen a Credit Suisse account with 220 million baht (US$6.26 million) and real estate belonging to Chanin Yensudchai, the former chairman of Stark, who is believed to be on the run.
“The new SEC chief would need to find the right balance between introducing new rules to protect retail and institutional investors, and to attract issuers,” the fund manager tells Asia Asset Management, speaking on condition of anonymity.
