Tajuddin backs new measures
KUALA LUMPUR: The list of new measures for the capital markets, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday, echoes Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s long-standing efforts to increase their depth and breadth.
In welcoming the measures, Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said the liberalisation as well as incentives would enhance the vibrancy and liquidity of the country’s capital markets.
“The stamp duty exemption on shares of mid and small cap companies traded on Bursa Malaysia is a recognition of the importance of this market segment,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Najib announced six new measures for the local capital markets at the World Capital Markets Symposium 2018, here, yesterday. They are:
Establishing trading link with the Singapore Exchange (SGX);
Six-month trading and clearing fee waiver for new investors;
Stock exchange to introduce volume-based incentive programme;
Intraday short-selling to be allowed for all investors;
More liberal margin financing rules; and,
Stamp duty waiver on small and mid-cap stocks for three years.
Tajuddin added that the measures would further boost the local exchange’s current initiatives, such as Mid and Small Cap Research Scheme and the Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform Market.
Najib also announced the plan to establish the Malaysia-Singapore Connect, which is a stock market trading link between Bursa Malaysia and SGX.
He added that the trading link would allow investors to trade and settle shares listed on each other’s stock market in a more convenient and cost-efficient manner.
“Bursa Malaysia is committed in our pursuit to strengthen our proposition as Asean’s multinational marketplace with global connectivity and the stock market trading link between Bursa Malaysia and SGX announced by the prime minister earlier could potentially be a step towards this goal,” said Tajuddin.
The exchange will work with SGX, the industry and the relevant regulatory bodies in operationalising the cross-border initiative.