PETALING JAYA: The capital market will play an increasingly important role in channelling financing towards a more sustainable and inclusive future, says the Securities Commission (SC).
Its chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi noted that social finance provides opportunities for impact investing to expand.
He said there are Islamic social finance instruments like waqf, zakat and sadaqah that employ principles of shared prosperity, stewardship and community wellbeing that have guided societies for centuries.
“These principles have demonstrated positive and tangible outcomes for local communities.
“For example, close to a decade ago, a public offering of waqf shares gave individual investors an opportunity to participate in the upgrading and maintenance of transport and parking facilities as well as a public market for the benefit of local residents and travellers,” he said in his speech during the Sabah Asia-Pacific Impact Investing for Sustainable Development Summit 2026 in Sabah yesterday.
According to Mohammad Faiz, under the Capital Market Masterplan (CMP), the SC aims to strengthen this pathway by fostering innovative Islamic solutions under the ICM Innovation Lab.
“This will include investment structures that channel philanthropic capital to underserved sectors and communities,” he said.
Mohammad Faiz said apart from this, another key CMP initiative is the Social Exchange Platform – an innovative philanthropic fundraising platform connecting individuals, corporate donors and approved non-profit organisations.
The CMP has also continued to look at turning ambition into investable opportunities.
“CMP envisages that the Malaysian capital market can mobilise between RM90bil and RM100bil in sustainability-focused financing over the next five years. To do this, we are adopting the Asean Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance in Malaysia to guide funding needs in this area.”
He said work has been ongoing by a regional grouping of securities regulators – the Asean Capital Markets Forum.
The aim, he added, is to have a common framework for identifying Asean-centric adaptation projects that are not bankable and identifying financing options using blended finance.
