BUSINESS

ISLAMIC SOCIAL FINANCE CAN PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR POST-PANDEMIC POVERTY ALLEVIATION, ECONOMIC RECOVERY -- SC

03/12/2021 07:49 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 -- Islamic social finance has the potential and is well-placed to provide the requisite support for post-pandemic poverty alleviation and economic recovery, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said.

Deputy chief executive Datuk Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin said in the realm of social finance, the SC has introduced frameworks to facilitate the use of capital market instruments to advocate and drive financial inclusion and social impact, such as Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk and waqf-featured funds.

“Moving forward, the SC will focus on enhancing its Islamic capital market ecosystem to be more conducive for impact investing, to facilitate the integration of impact assessments with Islamic social finance instruments.

“This will enable measurable impact investments in the areas of socio-economic development -- thereby ensuring investors will be able to gauge whether the capital invested has achieved its desired objectives,” he said in his keynote address at the Leveraging Islamic Finance to Develop a Sustainable Capital Market: The Malaysian Experience webinar today.

Apart from regulations and frameworks, Zainal said a key enabler in the development of a holistic sustainable finance and investment ecosystem is to ensure that all segments of the financial sector are equipped with the skills and technical expertise needed to facilitate product innovation.

In this regard, he said Capital Markets Malaysia supports the SC’s initiatives to develop capital market intermediaries’ expertise in sustainable finance and investing through its three centres of excellence (COEs).

“These COEs support capacity development and showcase the track records of three key stakeholder groups: corporations; asset owners and asset managers; and financial sector intermediaries,” he said.

In September, he said the SC launched its third Capital Market Masterplan (CMP3), which will serve as a strategic framework for further development of Malaysia’s capital market over the next five years.

“Economic development in Malaysia has been spurred by a diverse range of industries, some of which have already started adopting sustainable practices, and many having the potential to do so. In this regard, the sustainability journey for Malaysia has to be fit-for-purpose.

“In prioritising the sustainability agenda, we believe that the capital market can play an important role in financing industries and businesses in their strategy to transition towards more sustainable practices, by broadening the array of capital market instruments to serve this need,” he said.

Zainal said the development of transition finance to support Malaysia’s commitments towards carbon-neutral is thus a focus area that the SC has highlighted in the CMP3.

He said the objective is to facilitate industries and businesses to become less carbon-intensive and to transition into a more resilient, sustainable and low-carbon economy.

“The CMP3 also recognises that an important enabler in this nascent area is the availability of timely, consistent and accurate disclosures and data that are relevant in assisting stakeholders to better identify risks and opportunities, and therefore make more informed decisions.

“The SC will evaluate appropriate initiatives that will align with international standards to promote greater acceptability and comparability of disclosure practices, while at the same time mitigating greenwashing risks,” he added.

-- BERNAMA

 


 


BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 IFLIX channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.

Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial

© 2024 BERNAMA   • Disclaimer   • Privacy Policy   • Security Policy