New Leadership at Bursa Malaysia: Strategic Continuity, Enhanced Execution

In March 2025, Bursa Malaysia welcomed its new CEO, Dato’ Fad’l Mohamed, a well-regarded figure in Malaysia’s financial services sector with more than 30 years' experience spanning legal, capital markets and investment banking. Dato’ Fad’l shares his intent to strengthen the Exchange’s role as an inclusive multi-asset exchange, one that continues to serve the evolving needs of issuers, investors and the growth agenda for Malaysia.

Dato’ Fad’l, how would you describe your vision for Bursa Malaysia moving forward under your  leadership? 

My vision is to strengthen Bursa Malaysia’s top-of-mind brand and position as the go-to multi-asset exchange, offering trading platforms for investors to participate in various capital market products and to have access to capital and sustainability solutions, as well as diverse investment opportunities and insights. We want to be a marketplace that drives progress for the nation through innovation and inclusivity. 

Our priorities are clear. We are focused on bringing interesting and good quality companies of all sizes to the public market; growing market vibrancy and broadening market participation. Embedding sustainability among our listed issuers and leveraging sustainability and data as a way to serve our market participants are focus areas for us. We are ramping up efforts surrounding technology and customer-centricity in order to capture the interest of a younger, digitally native investor base. Digitalisation and data are key. I believe we must deepen and widen our use of AI and analytics to deliver insights across our markets. Platforms such as our new customer portal will enhance user experience and create seamless customer journeys. In addition, I also look to fortify our leadership in the Islamic capital-market space, leveraging our unique value proposition. These priorities are outlined in the Exchange’s Strategic Roadmap 2024-2026, with enhanced attention where progress can be accelerated. 

While securities trading remains Bursa Malaysia’s primary revenue driver, we aspire to achieve double-digit growth in Non-Trading Revenue over the next three years. This reflects the growing demand for high-quality, actionable data across financial and sustainability domains. We will continue to explore new avenues to expand Non-Trading Revenue, including non-organic growth through strategic collaborations. 

I am also keen to engage with our stakeholders and fellow industry players within the World Federation of Exchanges, to identify areas where Bursa Malaysia can collaborate and deliver stronger outcomes via our role in the capital market. 

The Malaysian capital market has grown to more than RM4 trillion. What role does Bursa Malaysia play in expanding access and participation? How does Bursa Malaysia attract foreign and local investors? 

As the exchange operator and custodian of almost RM2 trillion in equity-market capitalisation, we recognise the responsibility we bear. We are not just a platform, but a steward of public trust and we must act with integrity to ensure that access to the capital market is fair, orderly and inclusive. 

Today, Bursa Malaysia hosts more than 1,000 PLCs, the largest number among the ASEAN exchanges. Our focus extends beyond large corporates. We see strong potential in SMEs and mid-tier companies, which form the backbone of Malaysia’s economy, and we are committed to supporting their growth journey. We have invested in tools to help them understand their emissions and helped fund analyst coverage and profiling to selected companies. We leverage and collaborate with our intermediaries to facilitate access and information to foreign investors through programmes such as Invest Malaysia (IM) in Kuala Lumpur and IM Away in key international financial centres. These programmes are designed to profile and enhance our PLCs’ visibility to foreign investors.  

We also work closely with regulators and industry players to ensure market efficiency and build liquidity. We are pursuing more facilitative frameworks and targeted programmes to attract liquidity providers and increase the number of structured products. As our initiatives become more sophisticated and our product offering expands, we recognise the need to communicate more deeply with our customers and the general public. 

Bursa Malaysia is well-regarded for its leadership in Islamic capital markets. What’s the next frontier in this space? 

Islamic finance has long been a strategic pillar for Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia is proud to have played a leading role in shaping the Islamic capital market. We have pioneered several firsts such as the world’s first end-to-end Shariah-compliant securities trading and investing platform Bursa Malaysia-i, and Bursa Suq Al-Sila’, which supports commodity trading. We have also expanded our offerings to include a wide array of Shariah-compliant products including equities, ETFs, REITs, sukuk and digital gold through Bursa Gold Dinar. 

The next frontier will be shaped by how we integrate innovation, sustainability and inclusivity. One area with strong potential is ethical convergence - integrating Maqasid al-Shariah (the higher objectives of Shariah principles) with ESG as the foundation of products such as Shariah ESG funds and waqf-featured or social-impact investment products. Beyond product innovation, we aim to expand our global reach by attracting more Shariah-compliant and SRI funds from other markets. 

As a thought leader in the Islamic capital market, we are keen to contribute to the development of the broader ecosystem, including Islamic product research, innovation and market collaborations. 

Sustainability and climate action continue to gain momentum. How is Bursa Malaysia embedding this across its market ecosystem? 

At Bursa Malaysia, we view sustainability as a fundamental driver of market resilience and long-term value creation. That is why our approach to sustainability goes beyond regulation. It is about enabling adoption by providing the right tools, infrastructure and support to help companies take action and have measurable impact - not just for compliance purposes. 

Key among our efforts is the alignment of our sustainability reporting requirements with the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF) to elevate the sustainability practices and disclosures of our listed companies and encourage the adoption of international best practices, particularly those set by the ISSB. The phased implementation (large-cap PLCs in FY2025 to full adoption by 2027) gives companies time to build capacity. We frequently engage with board members, leadership teams and sustainability practitioners through ESG-focused programmes and roundtables discussions. 

Equally important is our work in cultivating a robust ESG ecosystem through the Centralised Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) Solution, a platform that supports companies to calculate emissions, report their carbon footprint efficiently and access sustainable financing opportunities. 

Complementing these efforts is our Bursa Carbon Exchange, the world’s first Shariah-compliant multi-environmental product exchange that enables companies to offset some of their emissions by trading verified carbon credits and purchasing renewable energy certificates via standardised contracts. 

Ultimately, our goal is to enable a just and inclusive transition for all market participants. Whether it is a large corporation or an SME in the supply chain, the exchange is committed to equipping them with the tools, knowledge and platforms they need to thrive in a sustainability-led economy. 

Malaysia is chair of ASEAN in 2025. In what ways is Bursa Malaysia working to strengthen regional cooperation with other exchanges? 

This year’s ASEAN chairmanship gives us a unique opportunity to lead, especially in areas where regional alignment can really move the needle, such as ESG and carbon markets. One initiative we are driving is the ASEAN Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem or ASEAN-ISE. This is a collaboration with regional exchanges to look at how we can build a seamless ESG data infrastructure across ASEAN. The idea is to make it easier for companies, including SMEs, to report consistently and for investors to compare across markets. It is about raising the bar and positioning the region as a credible and competitive player in the global green economy. 

We are also supporting the development of the ASEAN Common Carbon Framework (ACCF), which aims to harmonise carbon-market efforts. The idea is to strengthen the ecosystem around carbon trading, both supply and demand, so that ASEAN can play a meaningful role in the voluntary and compliance carbon markets.  

Dato’ Fad’l’s leadership signals a renewed focus on serving needs of companies and investors in diverse ways, investing in sustainability and technology, and collaborating with stakeholders – all towards shared prosperity, market excellence and long-term impact.