The Business Collateral Act B.E. 2558 was enacted last year in the hopes of providing additional means for creditors to take collateral in order to secure primary obligations, such as amounts due under a loan agreement. Under section 7 of the Act, a “security receiver” (in other words, the secured creditor) must be a financial institution or other person as prescribed in Ministerial Regulations. On November 30, 2016, the Minister of Finance issued a regulation which provides for the following six additional categories of juristic persons to act as security receivers:
- Special purpose vehicles with the objective of securitization;
- Trustees in the name of a trust under the law governing trusts for transactions in capital markets;
- Securities companies, mutual funds, or representatives of debenture holders under the law governing securities and exchange;
- Juristic persons operating the business of futures contracts under the law governing futures contracts;
- Asset management companies under the law governing asset management companies; and
- Juristic persons with the objective of factoring business operations.
As most sections of the Act have only been in force for approximately six months, the additional options it provides for secured creditors are slowly being tested in practice. The new Ministerial Regulation will allow a greater number of parties to take advantage of the protections afforded under the Business Collateral Act, and will therefore likely result in its increased use.