KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission is targeting to announce the list of peer-to-peer (P2P) financing before year-end.
Chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh said that there has been an “overwhelming” interest applying to run P2P lending platforms.
“We are looking to make the announcement before end of the year, we have received overwhelming response,” he told reporters at the sideline of Private Equity (PE) Forum 2016.
The P2P platform allows investors to provide financing to businesses or companies, where investors will receive a pre-fixed interest from the financing.
During his special address at the PE forum, Ranjit said that PE scene holds ample room for growth.
He said as at end-2015, the total amount of committed funds in Malaysia’s venture capital and private equity sector grew 15.2% year on year to RM7.15bil.
“Deal making has also been on a steady incline since 2012, with RM365mil worth of investments made by venture capital and PE firms in 2015, which is an increase of 59%,” he said.
Ranjit also announced the Malaysia Venture Capital and PE Development Council will be forming an industry-driven working group tasked to identify recommendations for improving and building capacity within the venture capital and private equity ecosystem.
“This working group will focus on central issues which include exploring how our homegrown dealflow can be further improved, possible intermediation channels that could facilitate portfolio scoping, and how the mobilisation of our savings pool can be further encouraged,” he said.
Over the years, the SC has pursued proactive initiatives to ensure that the right incentives and structure are in place to facilitate venture capital and private equity activity.
One such measure was establishing a tax exemption framework that allows qualifying venture capital/private equity firms who have invested significantly in seed or early stage companies to enjoy tax-free income, he added.
“Malaysia currently ranks 11th out of 125 countries assessed in the Venture Capital & PE Country Attractiveness Index, which measures investor-focused indicators such as economic activity, depth of the capital market, as well as the level of investors protection and corporate governance,” Ranjit said.
The two-day Private Equity Forum 2016 is hosted by Retirement Inc Fund (KWAP)
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