The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has recently tightened its enforcement of rules regarding foreign ownership of local airlines, requiring all air-operator-certificate-holding entities to submit details of shareholding information by January 20, 2018. In an article by Airfinance Journal, John Frangos, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department, explains the rationale behind the crackdown.
“To get around the restrictions on foreign ownership [some companies] will use Thai nominees to own the majority of the shares on the shareholder certificate in the corporate documents,” John is quoted as saying. He goes on to explain that, under this unlawful nominee structure, the airlines are “…legally Thai owned but the foreign owners are really the decision makers.” The tighter enforcement measures are intended to identify and resolve unlawful arrangements of that nature.
Airfinance Journal is a news and analysis provider for airlines and aviation industry capital providers. You can read the full article, entitled “Thai airlines face foreign ownership scrutiny,” on the Airfinance Journal website (subscription required).
