KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is concerned about the ability of "Group 2” and "Group 3” listed companies to comply with the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF).
As a result, chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi said the SC will launch a toolkit to help companies transition from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) guidelines.
"Last year, we paid 100 accountants to do GRI (and) we will probably do it for another 50 this year.
"We are about to launch a toolkit that gets you from GRI to ISSB, and we are going to give it to all for free,” he said during the launch of PwC Malaysia’s inaugural Corporate Directors Survey 2024.
Mohammad Faiz said Malaysia is also keen to learn from Singapore, which has developed model accounts for ISSB based on the real estate sector.
"It is interesting, but we have sectors like construction, palm oil, and finance -- what about them? That is why we are now sending people to replicate what was done in Singapore,” he said.
He said that many large listed companies have already started the process as they need to comply with other jurisdictions.
"My worry is for the rest (of the companies) next year,” he said.
Mohammad Faiz further stressed that the NSRF exemplifies Malaysia's commitment to ensuring the Malaysian corporate sector can provide consistent, comparable, and reliable sustainability information.
He said the SC has also introduced an initiative called "PACE”, designed to help companies successfully adopt the NSRF, offering a wide range of resources, including policy guidance, emissions calculator, and capacity-building programmes, to ensure companies of all sizes can meet the sustainability reporting requirements.
Meanwhile, at the ASEAN level, the SC is pushing and promoting a regional taxonomy for adaptation called "MARS” (mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and sustainability) and on the carbon market.
He said SC will chair the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), a high-level grouping of capital market regulators from all 10 ASEAN jurisdictions, enabling it to chart a regional capital market plan for the next five years.
The ACMF comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
He added that the SC is getting very strong views that the carbon market should be regulated at the ASEAN level.
Following the launch of the NSRF last year, Malaysia joined more than 20 jurisdictions to implement the reporting standards.
The NSRF will require companies listed on Bursa Malaysia’s Main and ACE Markets, along with large non-listed firms generating annual revenue of RM2 billion or more, to comply with new sustainability reporting standards.
About 130 companies, or large listed issuers on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market, will have to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 and S2 beginning in 2025, focussing on climate disclosures.
These companies have a significant impact on the capital markets and represent over 80 per cent of the market capitalisation of Bursa Malaysia, with the first report due in 2026.
The remaining listed issuers on the Main Market, Group 2, will adopt the standards starting in 2026, followed by Group 3, comprising listed issuers on the ACE Market as well as large non-listed companies, in 2027. - Bernama
