KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) is transferring its regulatory licence as a credit rating agency to its wholly-owned subsidiary, MARC Ratings Bhd, effective Jan 1, 2022.

       In a statement yesterday, MARC said the corporate realignment exercise will lay the groundwork for further group-wide transformation.

       MARC Ratings, which was incorporated on Dec 15, 2020 as a public limited company to assume the business of providing credit rating services as well as economics and bond market research publications on behalf of MARC, will be fully operational on Jan 1, 2022.

       MARC said Dr Veerinderjeet Singh has been appointed as chairman of MARC Ratings’ board of directors.

       “He is the current president of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

       “Toi See Jong (chief executive officer of Tokio Marine Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd), Wendy Cheong (managing director-regional head of Asia-Pacific for Moody’s Investors Service) and MARC Group chief executive officer Datuk Jamaludin Nasir will serve as board members for MARC Ratings,” it added.

       As the parent company, MARC said it will be the sole shareholder of the group’s subsidiaries, which also include MARC Learning Sdn Bhd, MARC Solutions Sdn Bhd and MARC Data Sdn Bhd, which will each provide distinct product offerings.

       “The status transfer is part of MARC’s ongoing corporate transformation process to set the foundation for more sustainable growth in the future by focusing on strengthening existing businesses and widening product offerings.

       “Notwithstanding the transformation, MARC stands firm as an independent institution with over 25 years of experience across its offerings encompassing ratings, economic and fixed-income research, learning, solutions, data and analytics.”