Bursa Malaysia and London Stock Exchange To Launch Centralised Sustainability Reporting Platform

Malaysia's prime minister announced that Bursa Malaysia and the London Stock Exchange Group will launch a centralised sustainability reporting platform next month to assist companies in calculating the impact of their carbon emissions.

Anwar Ibrahim stated at an annual investor conference that the platform will also assist firms, including unlisted small-to-medium enterprises, in disclosing environmental, social, or governance (ESG) data in accordance with established global standards.

"This platform has the potential to be a key enabler to Malaysia’s pivot to green, and to support our sustainable development, while creating high-skilled jobs for our progress towards a high-income nation," Anwar, who is also finance minister, said at the Invest Malaysia conference on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as Malaysian companies look to improve their ESG practises, amid new European Union laws on deforestation and sustainability that could restrict the use of Malaysian commodities such as palm oil.

In response to investor concerns, Anwar also stated that a planned capital gains tax on unlisted shares will not apply to listed shares or initial public offerings in Malaysia.

Anwar stated last month that the government was considering imposing a capital gains tax "at a low rate" on the sale of unlisted shares by corporations beginning in 2024.

The proposal was one of several announced in Malaysia's 2023 budget to broaden the government's revenue base, though Anwar ruled out implementing a broad-based goods and services tax.