Bangkok--15 Jun--SEC
Securities regulators in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand jointly, announced today that they have implemented the ASEAN and Plus Standards Scheme (“the Scheme”) for multi-jurisdictional offerings of securities in ASEAN. The scheme reflects the desire of ASEAN securities regulators to facilitate fund raising activities within ASEAN and to enhance the visibility of ASEAN capital markets as an attractive investment destination for global investors.
The Scheme will facilitate multi-jurisdictional offerings of plain equity and debt securities in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand by allowing the issuer to comply with one single set of common disclosure standards, known as the “ASEAN Standards”, together with limited additional requirements prescribed by each jurisdiction, known as the “Plus Standards”. The overall Scheme is envisaged to bring greater efficiency and cost-saving for issuers undertaking cross-border offerings. The ASEAN Standards are based on the IOSCO standards on cross-border offerings and fully adopts the IFRS and the ISA .
The Scheme forms one of the key capital market initiatives undertaken by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF ). It is also part of the regional capital market integration plan (“the Implementation Plan”) endorsed by the ASEAN Finance Ministers in April 2009 in Pattaya, Thailand. Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are the first three jurisdictions to put the Scheme into effect.
“The ACMF has shown strong commitment to enhance the attractiveness of ASEAN as a combined capital market for fund-raising, as well as underlines ASEAN securities as an attractive asset class by raising the disclosure standards among ASEAN members to an international level. I am delighted that Thailand along with Malaysia and Singapore are able to put this framework into practice,” said Mr. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Chairman of the ACMF and Secretary-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand.
Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia said “The implementation of the Scheme is an important step towards a more efficient environment for access to capital across ASEAN. By allowing consistency of information in multi-jurisdictional offering documents, the Scheme will aid investors in making informed decisions as well as providing them with greater investments choices”.
Mr. Shane Tregillis, Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore said “The Scheme aims to harmonize prospectus disclosure standards in ASEAN. Implementation of the Scheme is a step forward in the effort to create a more integrated capital market in ASEAN in line with the objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2015. We welcome the implementation of the Scheme and believe that it will usher in more initiatives to integrate ASEAN capital markets.”
Further information on the Scheme is available in the Appendix I, Details on the implementation of the Scheme can be found on the websites of the Securities Commission Malaysia (www.sc.com.my), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (www.mas.gov.sg) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (www.sec.or.th) respectively. The ACMF Secretariat is also available for contact through e-mail: [email protected].