KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd's new Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market, through which wealthy investors can lend money via the capital market to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is fast firming up.
In a statement today, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said the LEAP Market complements both the main and ACE markets by addressing the funding gap faced by the SMEs.
Currently, 96 per cent of SME funding comes from the banking sector and less than 4 per cent comes from the capital market.
By 2020, under the SME Masterplan, the government targets SMEs to contribute at least 41 per cent of the country's economic value.
"The LEAP Market, which targets high net worth institutions and individuals seeks to enhance the existing SME funding eco-system and address the over-dependency of these SMEs on banks and other financial institutions," he said.
"It’s an ideal platform for SMEs who are currently underserved in the market to raise funds and enhance their profile in an efficient and cost effective manner,” he added.
Tajuddin said LEAP Market rules are premised on cost efficiency, balanced and proportionate regulation and a qualified market for sophisticated investors.
Just like in the main market, SMEs in the LEAP Market will be required to make immediate announcements of material information/transactions, semi-annual financial statements and annual audited financial statements.
Similarly to the ACE market, Tajuddin said there is no need for profit track record for SMEs but investors who were keen to participate must have net asset value of RM10 million and above.