To meet the demands for convenient and affordable investment products and services, the SC licensed Malaysia’s first digital investment manager in 2018. Building upon the strong momentum in facilitating inclusive and sustainable growth, additional FinTech providers including ECF, P2P & digital asset exchange operators and digital investment managers are expected to be operational in 2019.
The SC also broadened retail access to the bond and sukuk markets by liberalising regulatory requirements for primary issuances and introducing a seasoning framework to allow retail access to existing corporate bonds and sukuk. Measures were also introduced in 2018 to encourage equities trading, including liberalising rules on margin financing and intraday short selling.
Raising standards of conduct and maintaining market integrity
The SC’s efforts to promote growth in 2018 were also complemented by measures to promote a strong and internally-driven culture of corporate governance among listed companies including small and mid-sized companies.
Malaysia emerged as the biggest gainer among 12 Asian markets for its corporate governance standard, moving from sixth to fourth position in the biennial 2018 Corporate Governance Watch regional survey undertaken by the Asian Corporate Governance Association. The survey commended the SC’s consistent efforts and use of innovative approaches to promote corporate governance reforms.
In 2018, the SC observed a deeper appreciation of corporate governance reflected through the adoption of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance such as the disclosure of senior management remuneration and the adoption of the two-tier voting approach for the reappointment of long serving independent directors.
The SC also emphasised high standards of market conduct through its supervision and surveillance efforts. In 2018, the SC conducted thematic reviews on several areas of risk such as fair and orderly trading, market liquidity and anti-money laundering. Where misconduct was identified, the SC deployed a range of enforcement tools under its administrative, civil and criminal powers, resulting in sanctions which included, among others, over RM30 million in disgorgement and fines.
Towards an accessible, agile and accountable capital market
Building on these foundations, the SC will continue to pursue an inclusive and sustainable growth agenda while facilitating innovation and improving regulatory efficiency. In sharing his vision for the capital market for the next three years, Datuk Syed Zaid Albar spoke on the need to develop a capital market and regulatory institution that are accessible, agile and accountable.
“To ensure inclusive and sustainable growth of our economy moving forward, the capital market must be accessible to the full spectrum of issuers, investors and intermediaries. It must also be agile and evolve in response to changes in the economic landscape as well as user demands. Greater access and flexibility must, however, be accompanied by higher accountability. We will continue to raise standards of governance and conduct, both for issuers and intermediaries in the capital market,” said Datuk Syed Zaid Albar.
He added, “On our part, the SC needs to continue being progressive, collaborative, open in discussions and proactive in our approach with all stakeholders. Ultimately, the SC must act as a catalyst to help the market evolve.”
In 2019, the SC will focus on:
