SC plans to widen sophisticated-investor base

Kamarudin said the SC would also enable fund managers to offer foreign funds to high-net-worth entities and institutional investors in the Malaysian capital market.

PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission (SC) plans to widen the sophisticated-investor base by providing flexibilities within the calculation of high-net-worth individuals threshold, says managing director Kamarudin Hashim.

The SC would expand the qualification criteria of sophisticated investors to account for their knowledge and experience as well as extend angel investors’ participation in other capital market products beyond the private markets and micro, small and medium enterprises space, he said.

“This would ensure the basis of investor categorisation serves as the most effective means to categorise investors, which would enable them to be accorded the appropriate level of regulatory protection and facilitate capital formation,” Kamarudin said during his keynote address at the International Institutional Investor Series organised by the Malaysian Association of Asset Managers yesterday.

Meanwhile, Kamarudin said the SC would also enable fund managers to offer foreign funds to high-net-worth entities and institutional investors in the Malaysian capital market.

“This will be facilitated through the introduction of a ‘foreign exempt schemes’ framework which will allow foreign fund operators that are a related corporation to a SC-licensed fund manager to lodge and launch their foreign funds,” Kamarudin said.

The framework, expected to be launched by year-end, will add greater diversity to the onshore fund options in the domestic capital market, according to Kamarudin.

While the first phase of this framework will be targeted at institutional investors and high net worth entities, the SC is also reviewing the next phase of liberalisation to include high-net-worth individuals, whilst ensuring controls are in place for parity between domestic and foreign fund managers.

The initial phase of the framework will focus on institutional investors and high- net-worth entities.

Kamarudin noted that the SC would also enable fund managers to offer foreign funds to high-net-worth entities and institutional investors in the Malaysian capital market.