KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) today released the Sustainable and Responsible Investment Roadmap for the Malaysian Capital Market (SRI Roadmap) aimed at creating an SRI ecosystem and lay out the role of the capital market in driving Malaysia’s sustainable development.
In his welcoming remarks, SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar (pix) said the change to more sustainable practices and brands will require investments in new technologies and funding.
“From a business perspective, this carries risks with indeterminate outcomes. This is why the capital market is uniquely placed to manage the transition to a sustainable economy,“ he said.
In his speech, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said sustainable development encompasses more than just conserving the environment.
“SRI emphasises not just on financial returns but also its positive impact on the environment, governance, culture and social development.
“There can be no overstating the importance of the capital market in mobilising private investments to fund Malaysia’s developmental and environmental commitments. I urge more institutional investors to allocate their investments towards SRI,“ Lim said.
Towards this end, the five-year SRI Roadmap has identified 20 strategic recommendations to drive the development of an SRI ecosystem and position Malaysia as an SRI centre in the region.
These include widening the range of SRI instruments, increasing SRI investor base, building a strong SRI issuer base, instilling strong internal governance culture and designing an information architecture in the SRI ecosystem.
One of the immediate initiatives to be rolled out under the SRI Roadmap is a revision of the SC’s SRI Sukuk Framework, which was concurrently released today.
The Sukuk Framework was first introduced in 2014.
