Bursa Malaysia Berhad ("Bursa Malaysia") today launched Bursa Malaysia-i delivering the world's first end-to-end integrated Islamic securities exchange platform that offers investors the choice to invest and trade Shariah-compliant products via a Shariah-compliant platform.

Bursa Malaysia-i incorporates the full range of Shariah-compliant exchange-related services including listing, trading, clearing, settlement and depository services, to underscore Bursa Malaysia's leadership as the global marketplace for Shariah listing and investments.

Y.B. Datuk Johari bin Abdul Ghani, Minister of Finance II, officiated the launch of Bursa Malaysia-i. The Minister emphasised that Bursa Malaysia-i underscores Malaysia as the world's Islamic finance marketplace and be globally recognised for Shariah-compliant trading activities among domestic and global issuers and investors.

"The launching of Bursa Malaysia-i is a culmination of Bursa Malaysia's longstanding commitment to making Malaysia a comprehensive Islamic investing hub that offers various Islamic financial market instruments. Continuous effort and support from various stakeholders such as Islamic Participating Organisations (Islamic POs), Regulators, Public Listed Companies, Investment Banks, Shariah Advisers and Islamic Fund Managers are essential to further develop and mainstream the Bursa Malaysia Shariah-compliant platform ," Datuk Johari said.

He added, the Government is supportive of Bursa Malaysia's efforts to bring together market intermediaries, particularly the Islamic POs, to be more visible amid on-going initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of the Islamic capital market industry.

Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said that Bursa Malaysia-i would further strengthen the Exchange's competitiveness in ASEAN, and the recognition as the international Islamic capital marketplace for fund raising and Shariah investing.

"New products and services that we bring to the marketplace serve to build on our strengths as a globally-leading marketplace for Shariah investing, our diverse and sustainable marketplace, and the expectation of Bursa Malaysia as an inclusive marketplace. We strive to ensure there is 'Something for Everyone on Bursa Malaysia'.

"The shift towards ethical or value-based investing is growing and indeed evident in Malaysia, particularly the demand for Shariah investing. Bursa Malaysia-i thus offers investors the choice to invest with their beliefs and invest Shariah-compliant from end-to-end. This will elevate the visibility of our marketplace and Islamic POs across ASEAN and on the global stage."

Bursa Malaysia is a leading emerging market exchange for Shariah-compliant securities offering investors a wide choice of Shariah products listed on the MAIN and ACE markets. These include i-Stocks, which comprise 73% or 669 of all stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia, i-Indices (Shariah-compliant indices), i-ETFs (Shariah-compliant Exchange Traded Funds), i-REITs (Shariah-compliant Real Estate Investment Trusts) and Exchange Traded Sukuk (full list available at www.bursamalaysia.com).

Investors can choose end-to-end Shariah investing via Bursa Malaysia-i with any of the nine Shariah-licensed Participating Organisations or Brokers, including AmInvestment Bank, Affin Hwang Capital, BIMB Securities, CIMB Securities, Jupiter Online, Kenanga Investment Bank, RHB Investment Bank, Malacca Securities and Maybank Investment Bank.

For more information on end-to-end Shariah investing on Bursa Malaysia, visit www.bursamalaysia.com for Shariah-compliant securities listed on Bursa Malaysia and contact details of Islamic POs or Brokers.

Originally published in Malaysia Business Forum, Thursday, 5th November 2016

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