MISSION STATEMENT To promote and maintain fair, efficient, secure and transparent securities and derivatives markets and to facilitate the orderly development of an innovative and competitive capital market. SECURITIES COMMISSION MALAYSIA annual report CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE v CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE SECURITIES COMMISSION MALAYSIA annual report CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE Public trust and investor confidence are integral to the continuous functioning of the capital market, and it is the core mandate of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) to ensure that they remain safeguarded at all times. This requires a regulatory architecture that is as rigorous as it is proportionate; one capable of delivering multiple policy objectives including the fostering of systemic resilience in the capital market and prudent behaviour among its participants, while also promoting inclusiveness and long-term growth in the capital market as well as the real economy. Achieving this balance is not an easy task, particularly as sowing the seeds of resilience often requires regulators to ‘lean against the wind’ during periods of exuberance post-crisis years. These uncertainties manifested in to mitigate potential vulnerabilities at an early stage in significant pressure in all emerging markets. the business and financial cycle. Such pressure, however, manifested in varying degrees as investors increasingly moved away from holding a Weathering headwinds homogeneous view on emerging markets towards greater differentiation, which involved an assessment of Such regulatory vigilance proved particularly crucial in individual markets on the basis of fundamentals 2015, a challenging year for emerging markets as including long-term economic prospects, the quality of investor sentiment coalesced around uncertainties capital market regulation and corporate governance as emanating from the divergence of monetary policy in well as the credibility of institutions. advanced economies, the impact of prolonged low commodity prices on major resource exporters as well as Notwithstanding such headwinds, the Malaysian capital concerns over a structural slowdown in key emerging market continued to expand in 2015 to reach RM2.82 market economies that had driven global growth in the trillion in size compared to RM2.76 trillion in 2014. vii CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE SECURITIES COMMISSION MALAYSIA annual report The growth was driven by the equity market, which grew compared to the MSCI Emerging Markets index which by RM44 billion from RM1,651 billion in 2014 to fell by -17.0% over the same period. RM1,695 billion by end-2015, and the bond market which also grew by RM15 billion to reach RM1,125 billion in 2015, compared to RM1,110 billion in the Preserving systemic resilience previous year. The market’s ability to remain resilient while maintaining Such expansion attests to the sustained ability for public trust and investor confidence in a challenging issuers to obtain long-term financing from the Malaysian climate attests to the continuous efforts that have been capital market, as fundraising activity remained robust put into strengthening its regulatory and institutional throughout the year with RM86 billion raised through foundations. Such efforts include the progressive the issuance of private debt securities – higher than the tightening of rules governing the microprudential corresponding amount in 2014 – and RM4 billion soundness and conduct of intermediaries and raised via initial public offerings, bringing the total funds systemically important market infrastructure, such as raised through the primary market to RM90 billion in the exchange and clearing house, to reinforce their ability 2015, compared to RM92 billion in 2014. to withstand significant market stress. A sustained expansion in buy-side liquidity over the At the same time, safeguards to promote orderly market year also contributed towards the relative resilience of conditions such as circuit-breakers and restrictions on the capital market, with assets under management short-selling have been in place for more than a by fund management companies rising by 6% to decade, while the ambit of regulatory scrutiny was RM668 billion in 2015 compared to RM630 billion broadened to include intermediary conduct and in 2014. Unit trust funds continued to be the largest governance, both of which are important drivers of source of clients’ assets under management, with net investor outcomes as well as the entities’ financial asset value of RM347 billion by end-2015 compared to sustainability. RM343 billion in 2014. The unit trust industry, which is an important proxy for retail investor confidence in The SC continued to strengthen its supervisory, the capital market, also recorded a surplus of sales over surveillance and enforcement capacity, with intensified redemptions with the number of units in circulation oversight particularly over entities deemed as systemically growing from 425 billion in 2014 to 458 billion in important to the capital market as well as close scrutiny 2015. on key dimensions of intermediary conduct such as sales practices and anti-money laundering measures. Moreover, while the capital market recorded net portfolio outflows in 2015 in line with global emerging Recognising that regulation must be as seamless and market trends, the value of foreign ownership in the responsive as the markets under our watch, the SC has corporate bond market increased slightly from also established channels for close coordination and RM13.9 billion in 2014 to RM14.0 billion by co-operation with our domestic and international end-2015. Liquidation of foreign portfolio positions in regulatory counterparts – efforts that have been greatly the equity market also took place at a measured pace, facilitated by our leadership role in global regulatory with the FBMKLCI recording a decline of -3.9% organisations such as the International Organization of viii CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE SECURITIES COMMISSION MALAYSIA annual report Securities Commissions (IOSCO), where I am a Credible deterrence through Vice-Chair of the Board as well as Chair of the Growth enforcement and Emerging Markets (GEM) Committee, the largest committee in IOSCO which represents 97 regulators To anchor trust and confidence in the capital market, the that are responsible for overseeing US$19 trillion in SC continued to deploy a wide range of enforcement aggregate market capitalisation. actions against those deemed to have committed offences resulting in investor detriment and harm to overall Such regulatory strengthening is complemented by the market integrity, which is underpinned by a commitment SC’s long-term developmental efforts to broaden and towards delivering credible deterrence against deepen the capital market, with the establishment of the misconduct. corporate bond market, for example, providing an avenue for domestic issuers to obtain long-dated local Given the crucial role played by information reliability currency financing and reduce their reliance on external in a disclosure-based regulatory regime, we cast a wide borrowings. At the same time, recognising the risks of net within our statutory powers to pursue criminal and narrow exits on market liquidity, we have also administrative actions against various disclosure-related continuously sought to develop a large domestic offences such as non-compliance with approved institutional investor base which enables more efficient accounting standards and the furnishing of false and capital mobilisation and engenders greater market misleading statements, including charging a licensed resilience through their long-term investment horizons. audit partner for abetting a public-listed company in making a misleading statement to Bursa Malaysia The existence of these lines of defence enabled the SC Securities Bhd. to provide policy certainty and exert a steadying influence over the Malaysian capital market during what We are also encouraged by a recent Court of Appeal has been a particularly challenging year. Nevertheless, decision which imposed a prison sentence in addition to while market conditions have thus far remained orderly fines imposed by the lower courts against four individuals with no failure recorded among intermediaries and for providing false disclosures, which marks judicial market infrastructure operators, the SC continued to recognition of the importance of SC’s enforcement work closely monitor potential transmission channels for in safeguarding the fairness and orderliness of the capital vulnerabilities that may arise from shifts in global market. liquidity, given the significant level of portfolio investments that have flowed into emerging markets Insider trading continues to be a focus area, with 16 since 2008. individuals charged for such offences. A total of 41 administrative actions were also taken against various As a result, our Systemic Risk Oversight Committee parties that have failed to act in accordance with the convened on a more frequent basis in 2015 to deliberate standards of conduct and integrity required by the SC on domestic and global developments that may pose a including licensed persons, public-listed companies as systemic risk to the capital market as well as the Malaysian well as their directors, with the Audit Oversight Board financial system and economy at large. Such ongoing for the first time revoking the registration of an audit assessments have resulted in further enhancements to the firm and its partners as they were found to be no longer SC’s market oversight and supervisory arrangements,