KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today (6 February) announced new measures that will be implemented to further stimulate vibrancy in the capital market.

He said these measures, upon discussions with the Securities Commission, will widen investment options for investors and contribute towards greater activity and vibrancy in the local capital market.

Najib announced the measures in his keynote delivery at the 2018 World Capital Markets Symposium (WCMS) this morning.

The new measures include margin financing rules that will be liberalised to make the local market more attractive, intraday short selling will be allowed to all investors and addition of a new category of traders who trade on their account, known as 'Trading Specialists' will be introduced.

Further, other new measures include a volume-based incentive programme will be introduced by the exchange to catalyse greater trading activity and all new investors will be given a fee waiver on trading and clearing fees for six months to encourage more participation.

The Malaysian capital markets have over the years steadily grown to RM3.2 trillion, with average fundraising over RM110 billion annually, with the fund management industry currently manages over RM760 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Apart from the new measure in the capital market, Najib also announced the establishment of the Malaysia-Singapore Connect, which will enable stock market investors from each country to trade in the other,seamlessly and enable investors from both countries to access into a market capitalisation (market cap) of over US$1.2 trillion, through over 1,600 public listed companies.