Kuala Lumpur, 5 August 2021 – Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or the  “Exchange”) today issued a consultation paper seeking public feedback on the proposed  amendments to the ACE Market Listing Requirements which aims to facilitate the Exchange  as the one-stop centre for all approvals in relation to ACE Market initial public offerings 

(“IPOs”) and prospectus registration.  

A holistic review of the ACE Market Listing Requirements was undertaken by the Exchange,  arising from amendments to Schedules 6 and 7 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007  (“CMSA”), which would enable the Exchange to assume the prospectus registration function  from the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”), effective from 1 January 2022.  

The salient enhancements to the ACE Market Listing Requirements proposed by the Exchange  are as follows: 

1. enhancing the ACE Market IPO framework by, among others, introducing a mandatory  consultation process prior to a submission of the IPO application, incorporating  interest of investors as one of the considerations for an ACE Market IPO and imposing  a moratorium on pre-IPO investors’ shares which were subscribed or acquired on  more favourable terms compared to other investors; 
2. prescribing the requirements in relation to the contents, standard of disclosure and  registration process of a prospectus; 
3. enhancing the ACE Market Sponsorship regime by:  
   

   expanding the pool of Sponsors by liberalising their eligibility requirements;  

   ▪ strengthening the role and duty of care of a Sponsor in advising a listing  applicant or listed corporation, by clarifying their duties and standard of care;

   ▪ enhancing the accountability of a Sponsor by extending the regulatory and  enforcement ambit to its key officers involved in submitting an IPO and certain  significant corporate proposals to the Exchange; and 

   ▪ removing the prescription on how a Sponsor and other relevant parties must  conduct due diligence, empowering them to make due and careful enquiries about the suitability of a listing applicant using duty of care and professional  standards commensurate with industry best practices instead; and 

4. streamlining the ACE Market Listing Requirements with SC’s Licensing Handbook,  Guidelines on Submission of Corporate and Capital Market Product Proposals, Equity  Guidelines and Prospectus Guidelines, where appropriate. 

Through this review, the Exchange seeks to achieve the following objectives: 

(a) greater market efficiency and efficacy through the enhanced regulatory framework,  with the Exchange being the single approving authority for ACE Market IPOs; 

(b) value-added sponsorship regime on the ACE Market with quality and responsible  sponsors and officers; and  

(c) uphold investor protection via adequate and quality disclosure in an IPO application  and prospectus, as well as enhanced enforcement regime under the ACE LR. 

The consultation paper on the proposed amendments to the ACE Market Listing Requirements  is available at https://www.bursamalaysia.com/regulation/public_consultation.The Exchange welcomes views from the public. Interested parties are invited to submit their comments and  feedback to Bursa Malaysia by 14 September 2021. 

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