Now let us talk about the second question, which asks how to verify which companies are our related companies. This inquiry originates from individuals responsible for providing accounting and tax services to companies. They must ensure that the companies comply with the law accurately and completely. Therefore, they need to know what methods and tools can be used to check companies that are related to our company or our clients.
If the company uses the Online Database service of Business Online, the company can search for related companies using the "Affiliated Companies" feature in the BOL database, whose searching method is to go through all companies where our company's directors are also directors in those companies. Then, next step we can check the list of shareholders of these related companies and the list of shareholders of our company. If we find that the largest shareholder holds shares in our company directly or indirectly at 50% or more, we will further check whether this major shareholder holds shares directly or indirectly at 50% or more in any related company. Companies that meet this condition are considered related companies of our company.
In the case where there are no major shareholders holding shares in the company at 50% or more, we should rank the shareholders according to their shareholding proportions from highest to lowest, and group the shareholders into sets (which can be either legal entities or individuals, or a combination of both). For example, shareholder 1+2, 1+3, 2+3, 1+2+3, etc. Each set must have a combined direct or indirect shareholding proportion of 50% or more. Then, we check whether the shareholder groups in each group hold shares directly or indirectly at 50% or more in any other related companies. Companies that meet this condition are considered related companies of our company.
Caution: The method described above may not be 100% accurate. The search for related companies mentioned above has weakness. If the directors in our company are not directors in another company, that company will not be listed as an affiliated company in BOL. At this point, I must admit that I have never used the Creden database, so I do not know if it has similar features or how to search.
If the company does not use the above database service (or even if it does), the company still has a valid solution, i.e., asking each shareholder of our company on an annual basis to provide a list of companies that they hold shares, together with information on the number of shares, and the shareholding proportions in those companies. This is equivalent to step 1) in the first case. Then, proceed with the subsequent steps until we get the list of companies related to our company. If the company wants to verify the accuracy of the information received from the shareholders, it can request copies of the shareholder lists in all these companies from the Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, to further verify the information.
[Contact Person: Mr. Phongnarin Ratarangsikul | Partner]