SC initiates aFINity innovation lab for Alternative Trading System

• Allows the SC to discuss and provide feedback to innovative business ideas and concepts
• Enables the exploration proof of concept solutions designed to meet specific industry needs

THE Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) on Dec 21 announced that parties interested in establishing and operating an Alternative Trading System (ATS) in Malaysia can apply to participate in regulatory sandbox sessions under the SC’s FinTech Innovation Lab (aFINity - alliance of FinTech community).

This follows the Budget 2018 announcement on the introduction of ATS in the Malaysian capital market.

 The SC’s Innovation Lab will commence from Jan 2 to March 30, 2018. Since 2015, the SC has pioneered the regulatory sandboxing approach where regulation is imposed on a graduated scale in line with the growth of the market and complexity of the product.

The Lab allows the SC to discuss and provide feedback to innovative business ideas and concepts, and to explore proof of concept solutions designed to meet specific industry needs.

During the regulatory sandbox sessions at the Lab, interested parties are expected to describe the details of its ATS proposal and provide the SC with information on the type of ATS, the features of the proposed market which include the products to be traded, its users, operating rules and procedures, post-trade arrangements and the value proposition to the overall capital market.

A description of the required information can be found at https://www.sc.com.my/digital/ats/.

Feedback provided to the SC during the engagement sessions will be taken into consideration in formulating the SC’s regulatory framework for ATS.

Interested parties who wish to seek an engagement session with the SC may write in to [email protected].