Bali - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) supports the commitment made by the ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF) in realizing a roadmap for sustainable capital markets in ASEAN to enhance economic sustainability across the region.
The ACMF Sustainable Capital Market Roadmap has strengthened the region's commitment to the global climate agenda while addressing challenges and opportunities specific to sustainable development and financial markets in Southeast Asia.
This was stated by OJK Chairman of the Board Mahendra Siregar when opening the ACMF International Conference 2023 "Transitioning Towards Sustainable Capital Markets: The ACMF Perspective" held in Bali, Tuesday (17/10/2023).
In his remarks, Mahendra shared Indonesia's progress in supporting transition finance and its strong commitment to promoting sustainable finance to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
"Achieving a sustainable, inclusive and equitable transition requires stakeholder participation and international cooperation. To ensure this, and as I have mentioned before, we need to recognize the important role that industry plays, for example, in adding value to the economy," Mahendra said.
The series of ACMF 2023 activities took place from October 16 to 18, 2023 which included the ACMF Chairs Meeting, ACMF International Conference, and ACMF-ISSB Technical Training which was attended by delegates of ACMF members, Asian Development Bank (ADB), as well as Capital Market sector players and stakeholders in ASEAN.
OJK's Chief Executive of Capital Market Supervision, Derivative Finance, and Carbon Exchange Inarno Djajadi on the occasion said that one of the main spirits of Indonesia's leadership in ASEAN is to encourage ASEAN to become a center of growth, the Epicenter of Growth.
"This underscores the importance of ASEAN's global position. In the face of environmental and social challenges caused by climate change and in line with the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, it is imperative that we, as a collective force, play an important role in the global transition agenda towards a low-carbon economy and a sustainable future," Inarno said.
Furthermore, Inarno conveyed several key initiatives that had been achieved during OJK's chairmanship of the ACMF 2023 (ACMF Significant Milestones), which consisted of:
1. Issuance of the ASEAN Transition Finance Guidance which is a general guideline on how a transition plan to a low carbon economy can be credible, transparent and inclusive;
2. Completion of the revision process of the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard, which refers to the revised OECD Principles on Corporate Governance where sustainability is the new main pillar. This Scorecard will be used in the assessment to determine the Top Publicly Listed Companies (PLCs) in ASEAN which will commence with the assessment in 2024 for the 2023 reporting year;
3. ACMF-IFRS Foundation Dialogue on IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. ACMF continues to encourage the improvement of the quality of sustainability disclosure by collaborating with ISSB as the global standard setter for sustainability disclosure. This collaboration has been outlined in a dialog protocol signed at yesterday's meeting. Through this collaboration ACMF can intensify capacity building programs both for ACMF members as regulators and also for companies preparing sustainability reports; and
4. The launch of the Handbook for ASEAN Green Lane, to facilitate cross-border offerings of sustainability-based mutual funds.
"The ACMF milestone above is in line with the focus of the ACMF initiative on the transition agenda towards emission reduction until the achievement of net zero commitments in the region, and ACMF as a forum for Capital Market regulators in ASEAN is committed to contributing to this big agenda," Inarno said.
Closing the ACMF International Conference 2023, OJK Chief Executive Officer of Financial Sector Technology Innovation Supervision, Digital Financial Assets and Crypto Assets Hasan Fawzi said that the Capital Market plays an important role in achieving climate goals because a large amount of investment and funding is needed to achieve these targets.
"Through the mobilization and allocation of financing, capital markets are expected to complement bank lending and public investment. In order to achieve this at the regional level, efforts need to be harmonized. Authorities in each region should work together to design and implement a common regulatory framework beyond national borders. The ACMF discussions are tangible evidence of this effort," Hasan said.
During the ACMF Chairs Meeting on Monday (16/10), the ACMF Chairmanship was also handed over from Indonesia's capital market regulator, OJK, to Lao Securities Commission Office (Lao SCO) as ACMF Chair 2024 and Securities Commission Malaysia as Vice Chair.
ACMF was established in 2004 under the auspices of the ASEAN Finance Ministers forum which consists of 10 ASEAN member countries namely Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB), Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK), Lao Securities Commission Office (Lao SCO), Securities Commission of Malaysia (SCM), Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SEC Myanmar), Securities and Exchange Commission of Philippines (SEC Philippines), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC Thailand), and State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC Vietnam).
The objective of ACMF is to develop the Capital Market in the ASEAN region with a focus on harmonizing the regulatory framework in order to achieve better Capital Market integration in ASEAN.