Mr. Chakkrit Parapuntakul, Director – General of Public Debt Management Office, has announced that the Minister of Finance approved the amendment of the application period and guidelines to evaluate the applications to issue Baht-denominated bonds or debentures in Thailand to enhance the efficiency and increase flexibility of the approval process.

Submission period shall take place four times a year, during the month of February, May, August, and November.
After having carefully considered about the impacts on Thai corporate bonds issuance, the opportunity for domestic investors to invest in a quality bond and the development of Baht denominated bonds market, the Minister of Finance has permitted 10 foreign entities to issue Bahtdenominated bonds or debentures in Thailand within June 30th, 2011. The list of the permitted entities and the issue amount is as follows:

• 1. BNP PARIBAS (BNPP), amount 10,000 million Baht
• 2. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), amount 8,000 million Baht
• 3. Citigroup Inc. (Citigroup), amount 10,000 million Baht
• 4. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (DB), amount 6,000 million Baht
• 5. Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), amount 5,000 million Baht
• 6. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),
• amount 5,000 million Baht
• 7. Kommunalbanken AS (KBN), amount 4,000 million Baht
• 8. Korea Development Bank (KDB), amount 8,000 million Baht
• 9. Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), amount 5,000 million Baht
• 10. Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac), amount 6,000 million Baht

The Ministry of Finance, thereby, reserves the right to restrain Baht-denominated bonds or debentures issuance if there appears to be significant changes to the financial status or structure of the permitted entities, or where the economy undergoes any significant changes.
The Ministry of Finance would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to all applicants for their interest to issue Baht-denominated bonds in Thai bond market. The applicant who wish to apply for the next submission period can send a renewal letter in February 2011.