Exchange holding company, Bursa Malaysia, is extending its eDividend facility to include a number for cash payments made by listed issuers to their securities holders (view press release). The company, one of the largest bourses in Asia, said that the new features comes amid encouraging response to its existing facility. At present 80% of the total dividend payments received by securities holders are made via eDividend. Under the eCash Payment framework, listed issuers are now required to pay specific types of cash payments as determined by the Exchange, by directly crediting the same into the bank accounts of their securities holders who have provided their bank account details to Bursa Depository. These cash payments include payments of interest or profit rates on debt securities or sukuk, income distribution by Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) or Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and capital repayment. In addition, Bursa Depository can facilitate listed issuers wanting to voluntarily pay other types of cash payments electronically to their securities holders.

“The expansion of the electronic payment to other types of cash payments by listed issuers is aligned to our national agenda of migrating to electronic payment systems that expedite the crediting of cash payments for corporate exercises and reducing the cost associated with the issuance of cheques by listed issuers,” said Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, CEO of Bursa Malaysia.