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SCxSC 2020: ECF and P2P platforms in Malaysia breach US$240 mil raised in 2020

ID

2067

Status

new

Published

06 Oct 2020, 4:08 AM

Fetched

27 Jun 2026, 8:24 PM

Provider

Digital News Asia

Category

malaysia-tech

Original URL

https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/scxsc-2020-ecf-and-p2p-platforms-malaysia-breach-us240-mil-raised-2020

Source URL

https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/rss.xml

Excerpt

ECF, P2P financing funds raised in 2020 to date benefitting more than 2.5k MSMEs Demand for online brokerage services in 2020 increased 270% compared to 2019 [Caption above has been edited for clarity.] “Given it is a tech event, it is only fitting we use technology to connect,” says Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia chairman Syed Zaid Albar when giving his welcome remarks to the SC x SC Fintech Conference 2020. This marks the 7th iteration of the annual conference that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is held virtually for the first time. Held from 5 to 7 October 2020, the event covers discussions on a broad range of topics that include local fintech players navigating the ‘new normal’, investment behaviour in turbulent times, and the role of fintech in responsible fundraising and investing. Zaid Albar acknowledges the difficulty of the current times. Yet there are silver linings amidst the gloom. For one, Syed notes that despite the challenging environment, investors have continued to show confidence in the Malaysian capital markets. “We have seen a considerable increase in individual investor participation via digital investment managers, equity crowdfunding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platforms, digital asset exchanges (DAX) and online brokers. So, the retail participation in this challenging environment has only increased,” he says. The silver lining certainly shines bright here, with some fascinating discoveries. For one, the total funds raised on ECF and P2P platforms have broken the US$240 million (RM1 billion) mark in 2020, benefitting more than 2,500 MSMEs. “Supporting this growth are investors under the age of 35, who account for 60% of individual investors. The presence of retail investors – constituting 84% of participating individual investors - further underscores the appeal of these platforms,” Zaid Albar elaborates. Other numbers of significance There are other positive things to note. This year, SC issued three more digital investment management licenses, totalling seven overall. “I am pleased to note that these digital investment managers have attracted many first-time investors… with close to 90,000 new accounts opened this year,” Zaid Albar continues. In addition to that, demand for online brokerage services have also increased – the number of new account openings through online-only brokers, grew by more than 270% this year compared 2019. “That is an almost four-fold increase. Their average trading volume has also tripled this year, so once again, lots of silver lining.” Zaid Albar goes on to say that SC approved three digital asset exchanges last year – and all three have now gone live with four digital assets permitted on trading on these platforms. Collectively, these DAXes have seen more than 400,000 accounts being opened, with the value of trades surpassing US$24 million (RM100 million) in the month of August. According to Zaid Albar, the country has seen rapid adoption of dig