BOND MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA

All securitisation transactions approved by the SC are exempted from Stamp Duty and Real Property Gains Tax.

The SC issued a practice note on issue, offer or invitation of foreign currency-denominated private debt securities.

The SC issued Practice Note 2 on Issue, Offer or Invitation of Ringgit- denominated PDS by a Multilateral Development Bank or Multilateral Financial Institution in Malaysia.

The SC announced on behalf of the NBMC the repeal of the NBMC Negative List. The NBMC Negative List is repealed in tandem with BNM's recent relaxation of the banks' bridging finance lending restrictions. With the repeal of the NBMC Negative List, regulatory parity will be achieved for fund-raising exercises by the private sector.

The SC may still impose new financing restriction from time to time, upon consultation with the NBMC.

An updated Information Note was jointly issued by the SC and BNM to include ringgit-denominated bonds issued in Malaysia by multilateral development banks or multilateral financial institutions as eligible securities to be transacted for re-purchase (repo) operations with the BNM. This Information Note should be read together with the PDS Guidelines and Practice Note 2.

The SC issued Practice Note 1 to the Guidelines on Dealing in Unlisted Debt Securities by a Universal Broker to facilitate cross-selling of unlisted debt securities by dealer's representatives of both universal brokers (UBs) and eligible non-UBs to their eligible individual customers.

Existing income tax deductions for Islamic bonds were extended to encapsulate the new definition of Islamic securities.

The amendment to Schedule 1 of the Securities Commission Act 1993 (SCA), together with the SC's Guidance Note on the Secondary Trading of Foreign Currency-denominated Debentures and Foreign Currency-denominated Islamic Securities, exempts the requirement to obtain SC's prior approval pursuant to section 32 of the SCA for secondary trades in foreign currency-denominated debentures and foreign currency-denominated Islamic securities (collectively, "foreign currency-denominated bonds"), provided that such trades are carried out between sophisticated investors.

The SC also released the revised Practice Note 1 to the PDS Guidelines and the revised Practice Note 1 to the IS Guidelines, under which Malaysian public companies who issue foreign currency-denominated bonds are given exemptions if such bond issuances are made only to investors outside Malaysia and/or sophisticated investors in Malaysia.

The SC issued the Guidelines on the Registration of Bond Pricing Agencies to provide for the registration procedures and regulatory requirements that should be met by bond pricing agencies

The SC issued a practice note which details the recognition system for credit rating agencies

The SC issued Practice Note 4 to the PDS Guidelines and Practice Note 4 to the IS Guidelines in order to promote the scripless issuance of CP and CP/MTN under a debt programme or an Islamic securities programme

Specific flexibilities are accorded under the SC's Practice Note 1A to expedite the issuances of foreign currency-denominated bonds and sukuk in Malaysia. The facilitative regulatory framework represents Malaysia's continuous efforts to develop the bond market, as well as to enhance Malaysia's position as an international Islamic financial centre.  This Practice Note 1A should be read together with the Joint Information Note released by Bank Negara Malaysia and the SC on the issuance of foreign currency-denominated bonds and sukuk.

The SC released Practice Note 1 issued pursuant to the Guidelines on the Offering of Asset Backed Securities. The PN sets out the regulatory and disclosure requirements to be met by principal advisors and originating banks in a primary collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) transaction. These additional disclosure requirements are put in place to enhance transparency and clarity of information to investors and parties involved in a primary CLOs transaction.