How to Play the Stock Market in Malaysia
Malaysia is a "middle income country"--neither truly wealthy nor truly poor--with a bright future. That combination makes it an ideal place to look for investment opportunities that still count as getting in on the ground floor. While the main stock exchange is not open to direct foreign investment, there is a subsidiary that is.
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Things You'll Need
- Internet access
- Account at a U.S. bank that will do international wire transfers
Instructions
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1
Study the difference between Bursa Malaysia and the Labuan International Financial Exchange (LIFE). While Bursa Malaysia is the country's main stock exchange, a combination of Islamic law and Bank Negara Malaysia regulations bar foreigners from direct participation. Bursa Malaysia got around this by opening LIFE as an offshore subsidiary.
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2
Pick a trading agent. The three major agents are Bank Islam, Maybank and CIMB.
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3
Open a checking or savings account and wire them a deposit. While trades on LIFE are conducted in U.S. dollars to meet with Bank Negara Malaysia regulations, the banks require all customers to have an account with at least 1,000 ringgit to do any other business.
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Find a reliable, accessible notary public. Unless you want to fly to Malaysia and sign all the documents before your trade agent's chosen witness, anything you sign and submit to open your account must be notarized.
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Collect the following documents: Online Trading Application Form; proof of income in the form of either the pay stubs or bank statements for the previous three months; Call Warrants Risk Disclosure Statement; Acknowledgement of Acceptance of Terms and Conditions; Form of Disclosure 3.4.3(7)(a); Call Warrants Risk Disclosure Statement; Memorandum Of Deposit Of Shares; Trust Account Application & Authorisation To Accept Faxed Documents; and three certified copies of your passport. Your trade agent will help you collect those documents that are Malaysian in origin.
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Submit all application documents in a combined parcel to your trade agent by registered mail or express delivery. As with anything this important, do not leave delivery to chance and make sure you can track the documents and their delivery.
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