Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) said on Thursday that the Hong Kong stock exchange has added Bursa Malaysia as a Recognised Stock Exchange (RSE), enabling companies primarily listed on Bursa Malaysia’s main market to apply for a secondary listing in Hong Kong.

The move brings the number of RSEs in Southeast Asia to four, alongside the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Bursa Malaysia is the 21st exchange across 19 economies to be given this recognition.

The HKEX said the recognition builds on a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year with Bursa Malaysia Berhad.

“This recognition reinforces our shared commitment to enhancing regional connectivity and expanding access to capital across Asia,” HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yi-ting said.

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Chan described Malaysia as one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic and internationally connected economies, while Hong Kong serves as Asia’s leading international financial center and a gateway to opportunities on the Chinese mainland.

“By creating more efficient pathways for issuers and investors, we are helping to strengthen the flow of capital, ideas and opportunities between our two markets,” she added.

Bursa Malaysia CEO Fad’l Mohamed said the recognition will give Malaysia-listed companies new opportunities to broaden their international investor base and tap new sources of capital through a secondary listing in Hong Kong.

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Separately on Thursday, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Securities Commission Malaysia signed a MoU to enhance cooperation and information sharing.

The SFC said the agreement expands the scope of investment products eligible under mutual recognition of funds arrangements and establishes a streamlined framework for dual initial public offerings between the two markets.

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SFC Chairman Kelvin Wong Tin-yau said Hong Kong’s and Malaysia’s capital markets are well placed to complement each other as vital financial gateways connecting global capital respectively with the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia.

“This MoU marks a substantive step in strengthening our regulatory cooperation with Malaysia and broadening cross-border investment channels for investors in both markets,” SFC Chief Executive Julia Leung Fung-yee added.

Mohammad Faiz Azmi, chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia, said the agreement provides a practical framework to facilitate greater cross-border investment, expand access to both capital markets and enhance opportunities for issuers and investors in the two jurisdictions.

Contact the writer at irisli@chinadailyhk.com