KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia-i — the world’s first end-to-end integrated Islamic securities exchange platform — will underscore Malaysia as the leading Islamic finance marketplace and attract global syariah funds to the local bourse.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said with Bursa Malaysia-i, the country would be recognised as the global marketplace for syariah listings and investments.
Bursa Malaysia has taken the role to champion exchange-based syariah-compliant investing and is providing new options for those who wish to invest based on the principles of Islamic finance.
“It bolsters our country’s profile of being ahead of the curve in Islamic capital market services and infrastructure,” he said when launching Bursa Malaysia-i, here, yesterday.
Syariah-compliant securities in Bursa Malaysia amount to RM1.1 trillion and account for about 64 per cent of the total market capitalisation. Malaysia is the global leader in Islamic capital market, with its sukuk market making up more than 50 per cent of the global sukuk outstanding for the past 16 years.
Bursa Malaysia-i incorporates the full range of syariah-compliant exchange-related services, including listing, trading, clearing, settlement and depository services.
Johari appealed for the support of Islamic brokers, public-listed companies, investment banks, syariah advisers and Islamic fund managers to ensure that Malaysia retained its position as the world’s Islamic finance marketplace.
Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said with the current “sideways” outlook for the local bourse, the move to introduce the new platform could help the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index realise the 1,700-level goal by year-end.
“If there is more impetus, we are hopeful of seeing more markets and syariah funds coming in to buy the Islamic assets that we have,” he said, adding that the stock market’s good dividend yield continued to attract investors.
Bursa Malaysia offers investors a wide choice of syariah products listed on the Main and ACE markets, such as i-stocks, i-indices, i-ETFs (exchange traded funds), i-REITS (real estate investment trusts) and exchange traded sukuk.
Investors can choose end-to-end syariah investing via nine organisations — AmInvestment Bank, Affin Hwang Capital, BIMB Securities, CIMB Securities, Jupiter Online, Kenanga Investment Bank, RHB Investment Bank, Malacca Securities and Maybank Investment Bank.