Bursa Malaysia And FTSE Group Release First Phase Of New Domestic Index Series - New Indices Provide New Perspective Of The Malaysian Capital Market

Bursa Malaysia Berhad (Bursa Malaysia), in collaboration with FTSE Group (FTSE) the global index provider, today launched phase 1 of the new FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series at an event in Kuala Lumpur. Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia Dato Zarinah Anwar, unveiled six new indices, which began calculating as the market opened this morning.

The new index series will cover all of the Malaysian market and segment it by size. This segmentation, coupled with an index methodology which focuses on investibility and transparency, will allow the creation of new investment products, such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETF.A, ETF.US) as well as new derivatives and over the counter (OTC) products.

The indices in the new FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series which went live today are:

FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS Index
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Large 30 Index
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index
FTSE Bursa Malaysia 100 Index
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Small Cap Index
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Fledgling Index

Bursa Malaysia Berhads Chief Executive Officer, Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said in his speech, "Emerging markets, such as Malaysia, are increasingly under scrutiny by international investors. By introducing tools such as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series, we can show clearly the transparency and investibility in our market."

"The FTSE Bursa Malaysia index series provides a new perspective of the Malaysian capital market. It brings us one step closer to achieving our national vision of achieving developed market status. It raises the bar by which our market must now perform, by measuring our success using developed market benchmarks," Yusli added.

FTSE Deputy Chief Executive, Donald Keith said in his speech, "FTSE is delighted to be selected by Bursa Malaysia as its index partner. Weve worked hard together to identify the best design and construction for this innovative set of indices to measure and analyze the Malaysian market."

Todays launch marks the successful completion of the first phase of the collaboration between FTSE Group and Bursa Malaysia. The two parties will continue to work together on phase 2 which includes adding new indices which cover sectors and other market segments.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS Index will replace the current EMAS Index with effect from now. However, the existing Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) will be maintained and run concurrently with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia index series.

Index codes and performance information on all six new indices is available at www.ftse.com/bursamalaysia and www.bursamalaysia.com