SIDREC: NUMBER OF CLAIMS, ENQUIRIES RECEIVED UP 11 PCT TO 266 IN 2023

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- The Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Centre (SIDREC) received 266 claims and enquiries in 2023, up 11 per cent from 239 in the preceding year.

They comprised 49 eligible disputes and 217 enquiries compared to 72 eligible disputes and 167 enquiries in 2022, it said in its 2023 annual report.

“In a significant development, the percentage of disputes filed by claimants residing outside of the Klang Valley exceeded those lodged by claimants within the Klang Valley for the first time since SIDREC’s inception (in December 2010),” SIDREC said.

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This shift could possibly by due, in part, to SIDREC’s focus on expanding its outreach activities beyond the Klang Valley during the year, facilitating connections with investors across Malaysia, it said.

From its establishment until 2023, SIDREC received a total of 3,692 claims and enquiries, comprising 709 eligible disputes and 2,983 enquiries.

In 2023, the majority of eligible disputes were lodged during the first two quarters of 2023, maintaining the momentum from the increased number of disputes received in the last quarter of 2022.

Of the 49 disputes received last year, 30 were related to unit trusts, nine to shares and warrants, eight to structured products, one to bonds, and one to fund management service.

“Disputes relating to unit trusts experienced a 25 per cent increase from 24 disputes in 2022, resulting in such disputes accounting for 61 per cent of the total eligible disputes received during the year,” it said.

On the nature of claims, SIDREC said 40 of the 49 eligible disputes focused on market conduct issues, six concerned service standards and the remaining three related to the practices and policies of its members.

Of the 40 market conduct-related disputes, 34 pertained to sales practices, three to fraud, defalcation or misappropriation, two to unauthorised transactions or non-compliance with instructions, and one related to another conduct-related issue.

On the six disputes related to service standards, SIDREC said it marked a notable 74 per cent drop from 23 such disputes received in 2022.

“This decline reinforces the trend of reducing disputes concerning online trading or investment platform glitches, with no disputes in this area received by SIDREC during the year,” it said.

Last year, SIDREC managed a total of 95 eligible disputes -- 46 eligible disputes brought forward from 2022 as well as the 49 eligible disputes received in 2023.

It said 55 eligible disputes were resolved at the case management, mediation or adjudication stage while 35 eligible disputes were carried forward to 224. Two eligible disputes were excluded, two were discontinued and one was deemed premature (the parties were required to try resolving their dispute without third-party intervention first).

SIDEC disclosed that of the 55 resolved disputes, 37 or 67 per cent were resolved within the mandated timeline of 90 working days.

“The remaining 18 disputes took longer to resolve due to several factors including a lack of cooperation from the parties and the complexity of the cases,” it explained.

-- BERNAMA