Thailand’s Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC Office”) has revamped various rules relating to private placements by listed companies with a view to streamlining the offering process and reducing the documentation required for submission to the SEC Office. Most of these rules were revised by the Capital Market Supervisory Board on December 28, 2022, and will come into effect on July 1, 2023. The key amendments in the new rules are summarized below. Elimination of Application Requirement Issuers are no longer required to apply to the SEC Office prior to offering their shares via private placement, according to new rules laid out in the Notification of the Capital Market Supervisory Board No. TorChor 28/2565 Re: Permission for Listed Companies to Offer Newly Issued Ordinary Shares via Private Placement (the “TorChor 28/2565 Notification”). The rules detailed in this notification will replace the current private placement rules under the Notification of the Capital Market Supervisory Board No. TorChor 72/2558 Re: Permission for Listed Companies to Offer Newly Issued Ordinary Shares via Private Placement. Under the TorChor 28/2565 Notification, issuers may offer their shares via private placements that are share offerings to no more than 50 high-net-worth or ultra-high-net-worth investors within 12 months, share offerings valued at no more than THB 20 million within 12 months, or share offerings to institutional investors (excluding share offerings to the issuer’s directors or employees), so long as the issuer complies with its information disclosure and corporate approval requirements, which remain mostly unchanged under the new notification. To fulfill these requirements, notice of a shareholders’ meeting must be submitted to all shareholders at least 14 days in advance, and the offering must be approved by a supermajority vote of the shareholders, which means approval by at least three-fourths of the shareholders present and

On April 25, 2023, Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) requiring entities and individuals remitting foreign currency equivalent to more than USD 10,000 out of Myanmar to clear their tax payments prior to the remittance. The SOP took effect on May 1, 2023. This is the latest development since Myanmar began imposing restrictions in April 2022 on the remittance of foreign currency out of the country, implemented by the Central Bank of Myanmar and the Foreign Currency Supervisory Committee. The SOP requires the remitters described above to obtain certain documents evidencing payment of all requisite taxes and duties, and to submit them to their licensed authorized dealer (AD) bank as part of the remittance process. The documents required as evidence differ depending on the purpose of the remittance. The SOP details three main categories, as summarized below. Payments for Interest, Royalties, Trademarks, Copyrights, or Services A remitter of foreign currency for payment of interest, royalties, trademarks, copyrights, or services, must first apply to the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) for evidence that all applicable withholding tax has been paid. In addition, if the country to which the payments are being remitted is party to an avoidance of double taxation agreement with Myanmar, evidence of the recipient’s tax residency must also be submitted to the AD bank. Payments for Goods A remitter of foreign currency to pay for goods must submit the necessary IRD forms along with evidence that corporate income tax and other applicable taxes have been paid. Evidence may include a tax clearance certificate for the fiscal year, the company name, the taxpayer name, and the taxpayer identification number (TIN). Salary Payments A person remitting, in foreign currency, salary earned in Myanmar must submit the required form showing that they paid income tax

In the context of low investor confidence in the bond market due to recent negative news and the difficulties in cash flow of bond issuers, especially those in the real estate and banking sectors, the government of Vietnam has taken action to address legal bottlenecks in order for the bond market to recover and develop sustainably. In contrast to the gentle hand offered to bond issuers shouldering the debts of corporate bonds, a more stringent approach is being applied to bond purchases by banks. This is being done to mitigate the negative impact of the bond market on Vietnam’s banking health. New Decree Loosens Requirements for Bond Issuers On March 5, 2023, the government promulgated Decree No. 08/2023/ND-CP (“Decree 08”), which took effect immediately, loosening requirements for bond issuers. The key changes under Decree 08 include the following: 1. Ability to negotiate repayment of bonds with in-kind payment: For corporate bonds in the domestic market, Decree 08 allows the bond issuer to negotiate with bondholders to make payment in assets other than cash if the bond issuer is unable to make full and timely payments of bond principal and coupon in VND according to the announced bond issuance plan. There are certain conditions which must be satisfied, such as bondholders’ consent, disclosure of the changes, and legal status of the assets used for payment (e.g., title, encumbrances, and material agreements involving the assets). 2. Ability to change terms and conditions of bonds: Previously, while, bond issuers were able to change the terms (such as extension of the term or use purpose of the bond proceeds) for corporate bonds issued after September 16, 2022, they were not allowed to do so for older corporate bonds. Now, Decree 08 allows the bond issuers to change the terms and conditions of the

Thailand has enacted new legislation to counter cybercrime and scams. The Royal Decree on Measures for Protection and Suppression of Technology Crimes B.E. 2566 (2023) (“Cybercrime Decree”) was published in the Government Gazette on March 16, 2023, and took effect the following day. The Cybercrime Decree provides a new legal tool to interrupt the money-laundering process and aims to crack down on cybercrime perpetrators and scammers by providing stronger legal measures applying to certain types of offenders that had not been sufficiently covered by existing laws. This new legislation grants victims the right to have commercial banks and online payment platforms freeze suspicious transactions and obligates these banks and platforms to comply with such requests. It further requires these banks and platforms—as well as other service providers—to share data for the prompt prevention and suppression of cybercrime. The key rights, duties, and offenses established by the Cybercrime Decree are detailed below. Freezing Transactions The Cybercrime Decree requires commercial banks and online payment platforms to temporarily freeze (for 72 hours) any related transactions of their account holders upon receipt of an alert from the account holder that he or she is the victim of cybercrime. Victims can report these illicit transactions by phone or electronic means. If by phone, the relevant bank or platform must document the call. The victim must file a police complaint about the illicit transaction within 72 hours of the freeze being made. A police inquiry officer will then notify the bank or platform about the complaint, and the transaction freeze must be maintained for seven days from the filing of the complaint with the police. The police will then determine whether it is necessary to keep the transaction frozen for longer than seven days. If the seven days lapse without a further order to freeze the