Singapore (VNA) – The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), whichmet in Singapore on October 11, launched two keyinitiatives to drive a more connected and sustainable ASEAN capital market.

These initiatives complement the measures introduced by the ACMFon collective investment schemes, corporate governance, disclosure standardsand capacity building.

The ACMF launched a framework to facilitate cross-bordermovement of investment advisers, which will allow ASEAN investors greateraccess to professional services. The ACMF Professional Mobility Framework willintroduce “ACMF Pass”, allowing licensed professionals to provide advisoryservices within participating ASEAN jurisdictions, with fast-track registrationand no additional licensing requirements.

Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are the firstcountries to join this initiative, to be followed by other countries in duecourse.

The ACMF continued to place emphasis on sustainable finance bylaunching the ASEAN Social Bond Standards (ASEAN SBS) and the ASEANSustainability Bond Standards (ASEAN SUS). The introduction of the ASEAN SBSand ASEAN SUS follows the ASEAN Green Bond Standards launched in November 2017.The ASEAN region now has a complete suite of standards to accelerate thedevelopment of sustainable finance in the region.

According to ACMF Chairman Ranjit Ajit Singh, the standards areintended to enhance transparency, consistency and uniformity of ASEAN green,social and sustainability bonds, which will reduce due diligence cost andassist global investors in making informed investment decisions.

The ASEAN SBS were developed based on the International CapitalMarket Association (ICMA)’s Social Bond Principles while the ASEAN SUSbased on ICMA’s Sustainability Bond Guidelines. The proceeds from social bondsare for financing projects that are socially beneficial, while those fromsustainability bonds will be used to finance a combination of both green andsocial projects that respectively offer environmental and social benefits.

𝓡 As an ACMF member, Vietnam has been making efforts to amend andharmonize rules and regulations to achieve greater integration into theregional capital market. The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SCC) willsoon review legal provisions related to capital market and green bonds tocreate a local market uniformed and connected with others in the region, saidSCC Vice Chairman Pham Hong Son.

The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) is a forumwhich comprises capital market regulators from 10 ASEAN jurisdictions, namelyBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam. 

The ACMF conference delivers a platform for capital marketregulators to exchange ideas, share insights, and collaborate amongstthemselves and with industry experts to formulate action plans to drive theregion’s agenda for deeper and more connected capital markets.

🗹 The2nd conference was held in Singapore under the theme “Sustainability andConnectivity”. It was attended by over 300 participants from the region,ranging from asset owners, fund managers, market analysts and otherstakeholders in the financial industry. In keeping with the Conference’s theme,panel sessions discussed sustainable financing, ASEAN capital marketsconnectivity, infrastructure financing as well as financing ASEAN SMEs andstart-ups. –VNA