Securities Commission Malaysia: The Capital Markets Regulator

Every time a Malaysian company lists on Bursa, a unit trust is marketed, or a broker takes your buy order, one regulator stands behind the transaction: the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).

The SC is the single statutory authority that both regulates and develops Malaysia’s capital market. It is not a government department but a self-funded statutory body, established on 1 March 1993 under the Securities Commission Act 1993 (SCA). It reports to the Minister of Finance, and its accounts are tabled in Parliament every year.

What is the SC responsible for?

Its mission, in its own words, is “to promote and maintain fair, efficient, secure and transparent securities and derivatives markets; and facilitate the orderly development of an innovative and competitive capital market.”

In practice that splits into a handful of jobs: making rules for the capital market, supervising market institutions such as exchanges and clearing houses, licensing the firms and people who deal in securities, protecting investors, promoting corporate governance, and enforcing the law when someone breaches it.

Fast facts

Field	Detail
Full name	Securities Commission Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Sekuriti Malaysia)
Established	1 March 1993
Founding law	Securities Commission Act 1993
Status	Self-funded statutory body
Reports to	Minister of Finance (accounts tabled in Parliament)
Executive Chairman	Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi (term 16 June 2024 to 15 June 2027)
Managing Director	Datin Paduka Azalina Adham
Executive Director, Enforcement	Datuk Manoj Kurup
Website	sc.com.my

Which laws does the SC administer?

The SC administers three principal pieces of legislation:

• Securities Commission Act 1993 — its founding statute, which creates the SC and sets out its powers.
• Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (Act 671) — the operating law for the capital market. It came into operation on 28 September 2007 and repealed the earlier Securities Industry Act 1983 and Futures Industry Act 1993, consolidating them into a single framework covering capital market activities, markets and intermediaries.
• Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 — administered by the SC to regulate the central depository system through which securities are deposited, held, withdrawn and dealt with in scripless form.

How does licensing work?

A capital market intermediary needs only one licence to carry on business in one or more regulated activities. Those regulated activities, defined under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, are:

Regulated activity	Typical holder
Dealing in securities	Stockbrokers
Dealing in derivatives	Futures brokers
Clearing for securities or derivatives	Clearing houses
Fund management	Asset and portfolio managers
Dealing in Private Retirement Scheme	PRS distributors
Advising on corporate finance	Corporate advisers, investment banks
Investment advice	Research and advisory firms
Financial planning	Licensed financial planners

The SC vets, licenses and supervises these firms and their representatives, and can suspend or revoke a licence for misconduct. It also registers and oversees market operators, recognised market operators (such as equity crowdfunding and P2P financing platforms), and digital asset exchanges.

Where does the SC stop and Bank Negara begin?

Malaysia runs a twin-peaks-style split between two regulators, and the boundary matters:

• The Securities Commission regulates the capital market — shares, corporate bonds and sukuk, derivatives, unit trusts, fund management, corporate-finance activity, and everything traded on or listed through Bursa Malaysia.
• Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank, regulates banking, insurance and takaful, monetary policy, and the money and foreign-exchange markets.

So a bank is supervised by BNM, but when that same bank’s investment-banking arm advises on a listing or manages a fund, that activity falls under the SC. Both regulators coordinate closely, but their statutory remits are distinct.

Who leads the SC?

The SC is headed by an Executive Chairman. Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi was appointed Executive Chairman for a term running from 16 June 2024 to 15 June 2027, succeeding Datuk Seri Dr Awang Adek Hussin. The senior leadership also includes a Managing Director (Datin Paduka Azalina Adham) and executive directors for functions such as Islamic capital market, corporate finance and investments, enforcement, and digital strategy.

What’s next

If you deal with Malaysian securities in any capacity, the SC’s own site is the authoritative reference: check the licensing register before engaging any broker or adviser, and consult the Investor Alert List to screen out unauthorised platforms. For the legal detail, the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 and its subsidiary guidelines set out the specific obligations that apply to each regulated activity.