KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices among Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) through the #financing4ESG initiative.

       Under the MoU, CIMB will collaborate with Bursa Malaysia to offer sustainable finance offerings for Malaysian PLCs in alignment with the ratings model of the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia (F4GBM) index.

       In a joint statement, it said the collaboration aims to help Malaysian PLCs improve their sustainability performance and ratings for inclusion into the index, and also support their transition towards more sustainable business practices through various green, social, sustainable impact products and services (GSSIPS) offered by CIMB.

       As part of the collaboration, Bursa Malaysia will also coordinate joint engagement and onboarding sessions for eligible PLCs together with CIMB on the F4GBM framework, as well as the group’s solutions under its GSSIPS Framework.

       It said these solutions may include CIMB’s existing ESG offerings such as sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) and sustainability-linked treasury solutions for corporate clients, which encourage sustainable practices by providing financial incentives to the clients based on their achievement of pre-agreed sustainability performance targets (SPTs).

       “As ESG compliance and disclosure have become a global demand, we are pleased to have CIMB together with us on our journey to enable Malaysian PLCs to become regional leaders in the ESG space,” Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said.

       “Being one of the largest banks in Malaysia, CIMB is in a position of influence to encourage its clients to adopt ESG best practices.”

       Meanwhile, CIMB group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said CIMB is pleased to join the #financing4ESG initiative by Bursa Malaysia, as it is critical for the financial sector to encourage ESG adoption within the corporate sector through sustainable finance.

       He said this strategic collaboration is firmly in line with CIMB’s sustainability agenda under its Forward23+ strategic plan.

       “We look forward to working closely with Bursa Malaysia and engaging Malaysian PLCs towards advancing our shared sustainability agenda, and in doing so support the Malaysian Government’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” he said.