SEC advises people to be cautious about investing in foreign exchange
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday warned Thais to cross-check with the Bank of Thailand before buying or investing in foreign currencies.
The SEC posted on its website an article warning against investing in unauthorised foreign exchange schemes.
The SEC explained that it has no authority to supervise foreign exchange, and that it supervises only the stock exchange and the trading of corporate bonds and digital currency tokens.
The article was apparently referring to a high-profile scam — the Forex-3D online Ponzi fraud.
About 9,000 complaints have been registered so far with the Department of Special Investigation, regarding losses of about 2 billion baht after investing in the Forex-3D scheme.
The case captured public attention after popular actress-singer Savika Chaiyadej, her mother and her brother were charged and denied bail on charges of operating the scam.
The SEC noted that the currency exchange law requires transactions of foreign currencies to be done with entities approved by the finance ministry, such as commercial banks and finance companies.
The SEC added that so far no foreign currency exchange rights has been given to any individual or legal entity that are not banks or finance companies.
