KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — The United Nations (UN)-convened International Network of Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) welcomed today its 33rd member with Capital Markets Malaysia (CMM) based in Kuala Lumpur officially joining the network.
CMM was set up by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in 2014, to spearhead both the local and international positioning and profiling of the Malaysian capital market.
In a statement today, CMM said as the sixth largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 39th largest in the world, Malaysia stands at the crossroads of mainstreaming the sustainable finance revolution.
SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar said CMM’s membership of the FC4S reinforces Malaysia’s resolve to develop a holistic, sustainable, and responsible financing and investment ecosystem.
“The SC will continue to encourage innovation and promote the principles of sustainable development in the capital markets, to advance the nation’s sustainability agenda,” he said.
CMM said its key priority over the next three years is to facilitate the development of Malaysia’s sustainable finance and investing ecosystem.
In an effort to streamline its sustainable finance work, CMM formed the Malaysian Sustainable Finance Initiative (MSFI), it noted.
It said the MSFI is led by a steering committee, which is chaired by the SC, and includes members representing stakeholder groups within the financial sector involved with financing green or sustainable projects.
“The purpose of the Centre of Excellence is to support the Malaysian financial sector in further embracing the tenets of sustainable finance.
“The objective is to provide impetus to industry stakeholders to facilitate capacity building, upskilling, awareness, and thought leadership on sustainable finance,” it said.
Meanwhile, FC4S managing director Stephen Nolan commented that Malaysia is at an important stage of its sustainable finance roadmap and believed that the FC4S could play a crucial role in its future.
“They have already started working on the creation of a green taxonomy and it is essential for it to be aligned with international best practices to avoid Malaysian financial institutions, issuers and asset managers from being left behind.
“With our network of financial centres around the world, Malaysia will now have access to knowledge and data that outlines what has worked and what has not in jurisdictions from Rio de Janeiro to Nur-Sultan. Thus, giving it insight to best practices around the world,” Nolan added.
— Bernama
