The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) announced at its virtual SCxSC fintech conference that more than 2,500 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have raised more than RM1 billion through the regulated crowdfunding markets of the Malaysian capital market.

Since the introduction of the Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) and Peer-to-Peer Financing (P2P) regulatory framework in Malaysia in 2016, the SC has registered 21 platforms to provide regulated crowdfunding options to meet the financing needs of MSMEs. This development indicates that these platforms have attracted healthy interest from MSMEs and retail investors.

Earlier this year in April, SC had announced the liberalisation of the ECF limit to RM10 million from the previous limit of RM5 million.

“The SC continues to encourage digital innovation and promotes inclusiveness of the capital market. We have seen considerable increase in individual investor participation in the market via digital investment managers (DIMs), ECF and P2P financing platforms, digital asset exchanges (DAXes) and online brokers. Over 80% of the investors in the crowdfunding markets are retail investors, with 60% of them under the age of 35 years old,”

said SC Chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar, during his welcome remarks at the virtual conference.

“However, we would like to remind investors to only invest in authorised capital market products and services. With the increasing number of online scams, investors should also be alert to avoid being deceived by scammers in their search for yield in this low interest rate environment,”

he added.

The SC has approved three crypto exchanges in 2019 with four digital assets permitted for trading. It is said that collectively, more than 400,000 accounts were opened, with the value of trades surpassing RM100 million in August this year.

The seven robo advisors registered with the SC continue to attract many first-time investors with close to 90,000 new accounts opened as of August this year, which has more than double the total number of accounts opened in the year of 2019.

Meanwhile, demand for online brokerage services has purportedly surged with a 270% jump of new account openings as of August 2020, as compared to last year, while average trading volume also tripled this year.

Now in its seventh year, SCxSC is the SC’s annual fintech conference for entrepreneurs, technology and digital innovators, industry and government representatives to discuss and explore fintech ideas and trends in the capital market.

This year’s edition of SCxSC is said to have attracted more than 5,000 virtually. Issues discussed at this year’s conference include examining how Malaysian fintech as an industry is weathering the pandemic, investment behaviors in turbulent times, responsible investing and fundraising, as well as crypto in Islamic finance.

The SCxSC2020 is taking place virtually from 5-7 October 2020, members of the public may visit their website for more information or to tune in to the livestream.