Malaysia is taking proactive steps to revitalise its capital market and broaden investor participation, with the aim of fostering economic growth, inclusivity, and sustainability in alignment with the Malaysia MADANI Economy Framework and the New Industrial Master Plan.
Dato’ Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin, chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia, said during the Invest Malaysia New York 2023 forum that a series of initiatives has been introduced to enhance market dynamics and improve investor access.
These include the automatic promotion of eligible Public Listed Companies (PLCs) from the ACE to the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, a reduction in stamp duty, enabling fractional share trading through stockbrokers, and the introduction of the Foreign Exempt Scheme framework.
The latter provides high-net-worth entities and institutional investors with expanded access to foreign investment funds. Additionally, plans are in motion to facilitate the establishment of family offices in Malaysia, broaden the definition of sophisticated investors to encompass angel investors, and reduce the board lot size for share trading on Bursa Malaysia.
Awang Adek made these announcements during a panel session titled ‘Macro Resilience and Market Insights’ on September 21, 2023, in New York.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also delivered a keynote address at the Invest Malaysia New York 2023 forum, which attracted 200 delegates from the financial and investment community, including foreign fixed income, equity, and private equity investors with a combined Asset Under Management (AUM) exceeding US$40 trillion (approximately RM188 trillion).
Awang Adek emphasised Malaysia’s commitment to facilitate company listings on Bursa Malaysia and attract more investors. The Securities Commission (SC) is working to streamline the IPO process and reduce time-to-market to enhance Malaysia’s competitiveness and appeal.
He further noted that the Malaysian IPO pipeline remains robust, with an expectation of 35-40 new IPOs in the current year. Despite global challenges, Malaysia’s capital market demonstrated resilience by achieving a ten-year high of RM179.4 billion (US$40.8 billion) in total funds raised in 2022.
For the first half of the current year, total funds raised in the equity and corporate bond market reached RM58.9 billion (US$13.1 billion), underscoring the market’s significance as a financing source for the private sector.
Awang Adek attributed this market resilience to factors such as diversity, ample liquidity, robust infrastructure, and governance, which enable the market to withstand external shocks and attract both domestic and international investors.
He noted Malaysia’s compelling value proposition for foreign companies, backed by a strong infrastructure and talent pool. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, domestic liquidity remained robust, with consistent participation from local retail and foreign investors.
In a noteworthy development, foreign investors became net buyers in 2022 for the first time since 2017, and foreign investors continued to be net buyers in the bond market in 2023, registering an inflow of RM27.4 billion (US$6.1 billion) as of August 2023.
The panel session also featured Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour and Bursa Malaysia’s CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift as fellow panelists.
