From left: Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi, chairman of the Securities Commission, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the Sultan of Perak and Royal Patron of Malaysia’s Islamic Finance Initiative, and Dr Farhan Nizami, founding director of OCIS
KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) is exploring ways to enable companies apply the Maqasid al syariah aspirations and principles in their products and services besides having better environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.
Chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi said the actions needed because some companies were focusing on profit maximisation to the detriment of their stakeholders and the planet.
“In the context of climate change, the data being provided by scientists on the alarming decrease in biodiversity, changing weather patterns, intensity of weather events and the impending rise of sea levels should be factored into the way companies operate,” he said in his opening remarks at the 15th SC-Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Roundtable held in the United Kingdom last Saturday.He said another area for companies to focus on is their commitment to ESG standards.
“We have a many examples of companies who appeared to put profit before safety or were indifferent about proper governance.
“In the pursuit of profit, compassion, empathy and basic humanity seemed to have been forgotten,” he said.Mohammad Faiz pointed out that the SC had issued the Maqasid al syariah guidance for the Islamic Capital Market in the country in November 2023 so that the aspirations and principles could be applied in the context of the capital markets. — Bernama
