Asean free fund flow begins

Asean free fund flow begins

Investors in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia can now buy and sell mutual funds issued in any of the three countries.

Likewise, Thai fund managers can sell their units to customers in the two countries in addition Thai clients.

The Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) announced on Monday the Asean CIS Framework for cross-border offering of collective investment schemes is now operational in the three member countries.

The announcement follows the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the Asean CIS Framework by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) in October 2013.

The framework allows fund managers operating in a member jurisdiction to offer mutual funds constituted and authorised in that jurisdiction to retail investors in other member jurisdictions under an authorisation process.

With the framework, qualified fund managers will now have a direct and efficient channel for cross-border distribution of funds in the three markets.

Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh, chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia, said this was a step towards integration of Asean capital markets in line with the objectives of the Asean Economic Community 2015.

"Asean has one of the highest savings rates in the world which can be re-invested in the region to generate returns and contribute to the region's future growth prospects."

"Under this initiative, investors and fund managers can benefit and leverage off one of the most dynamic regions of the world, with a combined GDP in excess of $2.4 trillion," he added.

Lee Boon Ngiap, assistant managing director for MAS's capital markets, said: "Retail investors in Asean will benefit from an increase in the choice of funds for investment with the launch of the Asean CIS Framework. Fund managers in an Asean country will have a direct and efficient route to offer their funds to retail investors in other Asean countries. We look forward to the participation of more Asean jurisdictions in this framework over the coming years."

Vorapol Socatiyanurak, SEC's secretary general, said: "The implementation of the Asean CIS Framework will make a complete set of both the offering of Asean CIS to retail and non-retail investors, thereby opening the door for more business opportunities by the private sector and offer new range of products for investors to diversify their portfolios. This concrete outcome is another step towards achieving the vision of AEC under the ACMF Implementation Plan".

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