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PETALING JAYA: The environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities of all Malaysian public-listed companies (PLCs) will now be measured under an expanded corporate reporting solution.
The coverage of all counters on Bursa Malaysia under the FTSE Russell’s ESG scoring system has been made possible with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Bursa Malaysia Bhd and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
Currently, the FTSE Russell, which is the LSEG’s global multi-asset index and benchmark provider, covers only 30% of all counters on Bursa Malaysia.
The MoU, signed today, would also expand the collaboration between the two exchanges as well as to explore new areas of opportunity, Bursa Malaysia said in a statement today.
Under the terms of the MoU, the FTSE Russell will expand its coverage of ESG scores to include all PLCs on the Main and ACE Markets. Currently it is available only for PLCs covered under the FBM Emas index.
Bursa Malaysia said the expanded coverage would enable more PLCs to better measure their ESG performance.
Bursa Malaysia CEO Muhamad Umar Swift described the new effort as another important step that the local exchange had taken to facilitate better ESG disclosures among Malaysian PLCs.
“This is in line with our own aspiration to elevate them (the PLCs) as regional leaders in the ESG space,” he said.
He said the latest collaboration was an extension of its partnership with the LSEG following the launch of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 ESG Low Carbon Select Index Series in August.
Group leader of sustainable finance and investment at LSEG Cornelia Andersson said the agreement struck between the two exchanges would yield a significant increase in the ESG data and analytics available on listed companies in Malaysia.
She said both parties were also exploring the development of an ESG corporate reporting solution to increase disclosure of climate related risks and opportunities for investors.
Bursa Malaysia said the MoU would see both parties collaborate on ESG educational initiatives, support the implementation of sustainability supply chain finance and transition financing workflows among financial institutions.
It said both sides would also explore corporate ESG reporting solutions that were aligned with internationally recognised standards such as the task force on climate-related financial disclosures.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2022/11/02/esg-scoring-to-cover-all-listed-companies/