Bursa, LSEG to roll out centralised sustainability reporting platform: PM

KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia and the London Stock Exchange Group will be rolling out a Centralised Sustainability Reporting platform next month.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the platform will enable companies, both public-listed ones and non-listed small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to calculate their carbon emissions impact.

It will also help companies to disclose standardised common environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data in a way that conforms to established global standards.

“This platform has the potential to become a key enabler to Malaysia’s pivot to green and support our sustainable development while creating high-skilled jobs for our progress towards a high-income nation,” he said in his keynote address at Invest Malaysia 2023 here today.

Anwar said Malaysia is not only open to but also wants to accelerate the transition and transformation of industries and local players towards ESG adoption, even for SMEs. 

For example, through the International Trade and Industry Ministry, he said consultation and engagement with local and international stakeholders are ongoing to develop the National ESG framework for the manufacturing sector by 2024.

“Malaysia is taking a leadership role in the low carbon journey, by bringing a platform to help companies measure, monitor, and drive reduction in carbon,” he said.

With the growing need for companies to scale their businesses, he said the Securities Commission together with Bursa will introduce the LEAP Market Transfer Framework for companies to migrate from the LEAP Market to the ACE Market.

At the same time, he said Bursa will introduce a new Recognised Approved Adviser Framework that will expand the pool of advisers for the ACE Market.

“The New Investment Policy is a forward-looking framework to ensure we remain ready to cater to changes in the global economy and to spur investment in future growth sectors. In many ways, it guides, facilitates, and helps implement reforms to strengthen the fundamentals of our investment ecosystem.

“We are open to innovation in emerging opportunities; part of this is dealing with the review of intellectual property (IP) policies to address issues such as ‘evergreening’ or artificial extensions of market exclusivity that exist in certain sectors,” he said. 

According to the prime minister, efforts are also underway to improve the government’s advisory services for local companies and entrepreneurs in their efforts in creating and exploiting IP.

“We are open to agile incentives; this includes fiscal and non-fiscal incentives on a more sector-agnostic basis, to enable agility in catering to evolving technologies and global priorities – including projects that exist in the fields of renewable energy, digital economy, as well as research and development that cuts across sectors. 

“We are open (and keen) to better meet the needs of companies and investors. I understand there are parties who are concerned with respect to the government’s announcement to study a capital gains tax on unlisted shares at a low rate,” he said. 

In this regard, Anwar said the government would ensure that tax will only be finalised upon extensive engagement with stakeholders, and will not be introduced on listed shares, while the disposal of unlisted shares for an approved initial public offering will also not be subject to the capital gains tax. – Bernama, March 8, 2023