Asia’s second largest stock exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) now recognises Labuan IBFC as an acceptable jurisdiction for listing on its Exchange, both on the Main Board and Growth Enterprise Market (GEM).
HKEx’s Listing Committee officially agreed to include Labuan as an acceptable jurisdiction for listing purposes in late 2012 and recently published its listing decision in late April.
“This is a very positive development for Labuan IBFC, especially in view that we are now actively concentrating our marketing and promotion efforts within the ASEAN and Asia Pacific region. This recognition also places Labuan IBFC at par with a few of other similarly recognized well-known financial centres”, said Saiful Bahari Baharom, CEO of Labuan IBFC Inc Sdn Bhd, the promotional arm and subsidiary of Labuan Financial Services Authority.
He added that that this recognition is a testament to the robustness of Labuan IBFC’s regulatory and legislative framework, in line with global best practices and standards.
Labuan companies generally operate either as a holding company or a trading company in a variety of sectors including shipping, goods trading, oil and gas, real estate, finance and investment holding. All Labuan companies are fiscally efficient attracting a maximum tax rate of 3% of audited net profit annually. In addition, there is no withholding tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty or inheritance tax levied in Labuan. For directors of Labuan companies, there is also a 100% personal income tax exemption for foreign directors and 50% exemption tax exemption on remuneration for non-Malaysian managers of a Labuan company.
For a copy of this listing decision which details how a Labuan company may offer itself for listing on the Hong Kong bourse, please visit www.labuanibfc.my
