The Bank of Thailand aims to use blockchain technology to improve services like document authentication, cross-border payments and supply chain financing.
The Bank of Thailand is now considering using the modern and revolutionary blockchain technology to improve and streamline several administrative and payment services. During the recently held Bloomberg ASEAN Business Summit, Bank of Thailand governor – Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob – talked about the bank working on several initiatives considering the use of blockchain for different purposes like document authentication, cross-border payments and supply chain financing.
While delivering his speech to the audience, Dr. Santiprabhob said:
“The sandbox serves as a platform for financial institutions and FinTech firms to test new technologies and operating standards in a safe environment before the products and services are launched to the general public. Technologies under (sic) reviewed include … blockchain applications for cross-border payments, supply chain financing, and document authentication.”
While talking about the use of blockchain for improving cross-border payments and reducing frauds, he said that blockchain would “improve regional financial connectivity and facilitate smoother cross-border financial services.” He further added:
“Adoption of modern technologies like biometrics and blockchains can help safeguard financial information and reduce the number and magnitude of fraudulent activities.”
Earlier this month, Thailand’s regulatory body brought new regulatory rules and laws under which it has also considered to allow ICOs to function under the observation of the regulatory agency. During the speech, the BoT governor also talked about how the newly upgraded regulations encourage “competition and innovation” saying:
“The Bank of Thailand is also undergoing regulatory reform to review outdated rules and regulations, to facilitate ease of doing business and ensure that our regulations do not impede competition and innovation and contribute to high costs of financial services.”
Thailand to Introduce ‘Bond Coin’ For Instant Securities Settlement
The Thai Bond Market Association (TBMA), the country’s self-regulated securities body said that it is going to create a custom token called Bond Coin to enhance the speed of corporate bond settlement in the country. TBMA said that having received a go-ahead from Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission, it is working on a private blockchain network which can only be accessed by parties in the bond market like investors, registered users and depository organizations.
The Bangkok Post reported that TBMA will start working on the blockchain network from August 2018, and plans to implement this project in three different phases. In the first phase, it will create a blockchain platform to be used for listing and sharing information like interest rates in a distributed manner.
In the second phase, new features will be added to the blockchain platform to enable bond deposits. This task is expected to take nine months of time period. Ultimately, in the third phase, TBMA will develop a Bond Coin for tokenizing assets to make instant clearing and settlements.
TBMA president Tada Phutthitada said that the blockchain platform will also implement smart contacts for a subscription system, a settlement information system and a verification system for corporate bonds. TBMA’s executive vice president Chaitat Prachuabdee said that this new system is expected to considerably improve the efficiency in the transaction time of the corporate bonds while bringing it down from the existing 7–10 days to just 1–3 days.
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