Rules and regulations across the Association of South-East Asian Nation Countries (Asean) region will need to be harmonised to ensure capital market integration by 2015, Securities Commission chairperson Ranjit Singh said.

He said that this would include standardising requirements for disclosure, which will facilitate cross-border listings.

“This will be the first step in the three-levels in which efforts are directed in,” he told reporters after presenting the commission’s 2012 annual report at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said that for some countries, this will mean law reform, but Malaysia’s internationally benchmarked regulations puts it in a stronger position when it comes to Asean integration.

Ranjit ( left ) said that following the reform in rules and regulations, Asean countries will need to work on developing infrastructures to support inter-border trading and products to suit.

He said that while integration will open investors to a broader choice of products, companies will find themselves able to tap into capital markets outside the Malaysian borders.

“For example, mutual funds in Malaysia can be distributed to other jurisdictions who are signatories of the framework,” he said.

He added that it will also help the region face stiff competition from bigger players like China and India.

Meanwhile, Securities Commission executive director for strategy and development Goh Ching Yin said that the commission is in the midst of formalising a conceptual framework for an unlisted securities market.

“Our report on (the establishment of a) mercantile exchange will be ready by the end of the second quarter,” he said.

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