PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission (SC) is spearheading numerous national-level and regional initiatives in conjunction with Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean this year, apart from the routine regulatory and developmental activities.
SC chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi said the SC has assumed the chair of the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), which is a regional grouping of securities and capital market regulators.
“Our chairmanship of ACMF represents an opportunity to advance regional collaboration and build better connected and resilient capital markets within Asean. With these objectives in mind, the ACMF will focus on finalising the five-year ACMF Action Plan 2026-2030.
“I am also eager to ensure our home-grown multinationals and companies can lead the region in championing the sustainability agenda.
“In 2025, we will have the first batch of public-listed companies with market capitalisation of more than RM2 billion issuing sustainability reports,“ he said in the SC Annual Report 2024 launched today.
Mohammad Faiz said the National Sustainability Reporting Framework, launched in September 2024 to establish a robust framework for corporate sustainability disclosures, will continue, with the focus turning to proposing legislative amendments to the Financial Reporting Act and the issuance of Sustainability Reporting Standards by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board.
“In terms of social finance, we are on track to establish Malaysia’s first Social Exchange, which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in May 2024.
“The Social Exchange Pilot Programme, or SEPP25, initiated in early 2025, is a major step towards providing market-based fundraising for social projects and bringing Malaysia closer to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“SEPP25 will identify the necessary requirements and ecosystem needed for the Social Exchange, which is scheduled to be fully operational in 2026,“ Mohammad Faiz said.
The Social Exchange also exemplifies the utility and applicability of the Maqasid Al-Shariah Guidance Islamic
Capital Market Malaysia, which was released in 2023, he added.
“I believe the capital market requires more such use cases and applications to provide additional guidance to
intermediaries and stakeholders in adopting these principles,“ Mohammad Faiz said.
“To this end, we are working towards developing specific indicators for each Maqasid al-Shariah principle, starting
with the equity market in 2025.
“The release of specific guidance and indicators related to Islamic values will hopefully encourage greater Islamic product innovation and subsequently reinforce Malaysia’s leadership in Islamic finance.”
Mohammad Faiz said the SC will also be operationalising the Single Family Office (SFO) Incentive Scheme announced by the government with a view to provide a clear, flexible and facilitative structure to enable families to establish their
presence efficiently.
Once the tax order is gazetted, the aim is to pre-register at least two SFOs in 2025.
Alongside this, the SC chairman said, Malaysia will undergo two key assessments in 2025.
These are the Financial Action Task Force Mutual Evaluation, which is conducted every seven to 10 years, and the biennial Corporate Governance Watch (CG Watch) for the Asia-Pacific region.
He said the Financial Action Task Force assessment of Malaysia will be crucial for Malaysia’s global reputation and investment attractiveness.
“This is Malaysia’s fourth mutual evaluation since 2001, and the stakes are high. A less favourable report may lead to
global financial institutions reducing, or worse, halting transactions with local financial intermediaries.
“Equally important, would be to maintain or improve upon our previous rankings in the CG Watch 2025, particularly in the categories of auditors and audit regulators, CG rules and listed companies,“ Mohammad Faiz said.
The SC, he disclosed, will begin the process of shaping views and insights for the long term, including vision and objectives, in developing the Capital Market Masterplan 4 (CMP4) in 2025. It will succeed CMP3 (2021-2025).
The underlying objective of CMP4 will be to ensure the Malaysian capital market remains competitive and resilient amid economic, social and technological changes, Mohammad Faiz noted.
