Lo scopo di questo articolo consiste nel delineare le principali caratteristiche dell’area ASEAN (il mercato unico creato nel 2015 da Singapore, Thailandia, Malesia, Indonesia, Filippine, Brunei, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Laos e Cambogia), con un ulteriore focus sulla corporate governance delle società quotate nel Regno di Thailandia.. In particolare, deve essere notato che la rilevanza di un’efficace corporate governance è un elemento essenziale per il successo di un mercato di capitali, anche nel Sud-Est Asiatico. Da questo punto di vista, il Regno di Thailandia rappresenta un leading case tra i sistemi legali dell’area ASEAN (ossia l’Associazione delle nazioni del Sud-Est Asiatico). Infine, l’articolo esamina brevemente la storia e le caratteristiche dello Stock Exchange of Thailand e dell’innovativo M arket for Alternative Investments. Per un maggiore approfondimento a proposito del mercato unico dell’ASEAN e delle questioni giuridiche delineate nel presente articolo, sono allegati quattro documenti: la Presentazione del mercato unico dell’ASEAN, pubblicata dall’ASEAN stessa nel 2015; le Linee Guida 2025 per lo sviluppo del mercato unico dell’ASEAN, di nuovo pubblicate nel 2015 dall’ASEAN; i Quindici Principi sulla corporate governance stilati nel 2006 dallo Stock Exchange of Thailand e l’Analisi della corporate governance in Thailandia predisposta dalla Banca Mondiale nel 2013.

  The launch of this new section, dedicated to South-East Asia and its regulatory environment, aims to get the Italian readers involved in the legal framework of one of the fast-growing areas in the world. In other words, it provides an overview upon the diversified legal systems of the ten countries, which are currently members of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asia Nations) and its recently established (in late 2015, but effective from 2016) common market, AEC (ASEAN Economic Community). An analysis of South-East Asia implies, for instance, to deal with the laws (and the financial markets) of sophisticated and wealthy countries, such as Singapore, and those of poorer nations, e.g. Myanmar or Laos; and to examine a regulatory landscape, which is continuously updated for handling the recent and sharp economic growth of this area. The first article of this section dedicated to South-East Asia comprises an introduction on ASEAN and its common market, and a quick overview upon Thai corporate governance and Stock Exchange, which intends to support not only the expansion of listed corporations, but also the development of SMEs and startup companies. The second article will focus on the regulation of crowdfunding, the protection of retail investors and the requirements set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commissions of Malaysia and Thailand for becoming a crowdfunding operator in these jurisdictions.   Pietro Borsano (*)     (*) Pietro Borsano holds a Master’s Degree with honours in Corporate Law from the Italian University Università degli Studi di Torino. In 2015, he graduated with merit from the French Business School ESCP Europe, where he attended the Master in European Business (“MEB”), a postgraduate course in General Management and Business Administration. He has also studied at the School of Management of Asian Institute of Technology (“AIT”), in Bangkok (Thailand), for an exchange semester. He has previously written for this Law Review.   Pietro Borsano is now Associate for Legal and Business Advisory with the Italian-Thai consultancy firm AdvisngAsia, which is headquartered in Bangkok and advises Western companies to get into Far-East markets.