Bursa Malaysia, Mah Sing and Alliance Bank Collaborate to Drive ESG Adoption

Kuala Lumpur, 11 May 2023 - Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or the “Exchange”) signed a Memorandum of Collaboration (“MOC”) each with Mah Sing Group Berhad (“Mah Sing”) and Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank”), to bring them on board as early adopters of its Centralised Sustainability Intelligence Platform (“Platform”). The collaboration aims to expedite the adoption and integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices among companies, resulting in a more sustainable and resilient business ecosystem. In addition, Mah Sing and Alliance Bank signed a Memorandum of Collaboration with the objective of building an ecosystem that sees tangible financial benefits from sustainable practices.

The Platform, which was developed by Bursa Malaysia in collaboration with the London Stock Exchange Group, will serve as a repository for sustainability disclosures by listed companies, along with disclosures by the local and international suppliers throughout their supply chains. Notably, it will enable companies to calculate and track their carbon emissions impact, while encouraging and supporting their ESG journey.

The Platform is intended to be inter-operable whereby the ESG disclosures and calculations are accepted and trusted by local and international financial institutions, regulators, and other companies and provide Malaysian companies with access to global markets, thus increasing their competitiveness. To ensure usability and relevance, Bursa Malaysia has partnered and will continue to partner with corporates from various key sectors in the economy.

“The MOC signed with Mah Sing today marks the Exchange’s third collaboration and the first for the property and manufacturing sectors aimed at driving ESG adoption across the value chain,” said Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia. “This follows Bursa Malaysia’s other recent MOC signings to onboard early adopters of the Platform in the oil and gas, as well as automotive industry.”

“Bursa Malaysia aspires to create a sustainable marketplace, where businesses can grow and continue to be profitable, contributing back to their communities and the environment. We hope this partnership with Mah Sing and Alliance Bank will accelerate the adoption of ESG practices among businesses through the facilitation of access to capital and other non-financing solutions and resources,” he added.

The collaborations enable Mah Sing to standardise its ESG reporting while exploring further value creation opportunities throughout its supply chain. It will also allow Mah Sing to improve its internal operations, track, monitor, and analyse its sustainability performance across both property and manufacturing business divisions. By participating in this effort, Mah Sing aspires to provide better transparency and accountability to its stakeholders, as well as create possibilities to collaborate with other stakeholders and contribute to the development of a sustainable community.

“We are thrilled to be one of the early adopters of this Platform, and we are pleased to be the first property developer to be part of this initiative. With our two business divisions, Property and Manufacturing, we have a large number of suppliers that would like to be part of this initiative. Mah Sing has over 50 projects across central, northern and southern regions, and we are one of the largest plastics manufacturers in ASEAN. As for our plastics and glove manufacturing businesses, we are supplying premium quality products to both local and international markets,” said Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum, Mah Sing’s Founder and Group Managing Director.

“With the adoption of this Platform, we will not only be able to grow in this sustainability journey with our stakeholders — such as suppliers, contractors, vendors, and business associates — but we will also be able to achieve long-term operational excellence, particularly in reducing Scope 3 emissions, which can make a significant contribution to mitigating the impact of climate change,” continued Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

In line with Alliance Bank’s commitment to help businesses build green propositions to gain competitive advantages and become sustainable-trade ready, it will dedicate resources to work with Bursa Malaysia and Mah Sing on the program and offer Mah Sing’s suppliers, contractors, and consultants four (4) incentives to reward them for improving their carbon footprint such as;

1. Access to better green financing and deposit rates up to 50 basis points better, to promote their sustainability transition;

2. Free access to a SME climate assessment tool jointly developed by UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB) and sponsored by Alliance Bank. The tool enables SMEs to identify climate-related risks and opportunities, receive an assessment report, and generate an action plan for improvement.

3. ESG training conducted by UNGCMYB on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions that are relevant to their business, towards learning to further improve their carbon footprint; and

4. Finally, the suppliers will receive exclusive green tech solutions that will reduce operating costs, such as solar proposals with 10 years of performance guaranteed on savings, and discounts of up to RM10,000 for project values above RM500,000, and many others.

“We are pleased to be working with like-minded partners to create meaningful impact for the businesses, community and environment in line with our focus to be an ESG-centric organisation. This partnership with Bursa Malaysia and Mah Sing enables us to expand our reach to more SMEs and help them in transitioning to more sustainable business practices. We believe that long-term value can be created by building a community that cares about sustainability, conducts business ethically and with integrity,” said Mr Kellee Kam, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Bank.

The familiarisation of the Platform will commence from July 2023 onwards in the hope of helping companies with financial year ending December 2023 to meet mandatory ESG disclosure requirements starting from March 2024. As early adopters, Mah Sing and its value chain partners are Alliance Bank’s first collaboration on the Platform. Alliance Bank stands ready to support Bursa Malaysia’s aspiration as the Exchange looks to onboard more companies from other key industries in the coming months.

The Memorandum of Collaboration was signed by Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum, Mah Sing’s Founder and Group Managing Director (left); Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Bursa Malaysia Chief Executive Officer (centre); and Mr Kellee Kam, Alliance Bank’s Group Chief Executive Officer (right).

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum (fifth from left); Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift (centre); Mr Kellee Kam (fifth from right) together with Helena Fung, London Stock Exchange Group’s Head of Sustainable Finance and Investment, Asia Pacific (fourth from left) and the working teams from Mah Sing, Bursa Malaysia and Alliance Bank.