ABSTRACT
The launching of Malaysia’s investment account platform (IAP) in 2016 marked another important milestone in positioning Malaysia as a leader in the Islamic banking industry. The platform that leverages on the advance and innovative financial technology system, or fintech, offers a safe and regulated investment ecosystem with better outreach and enhanced visibility to the ventures while the investors enjoy a greater transparency and disclosure on the listed ventures. The introduction of an investment account under the Islamic Financial Services Act regime marked another stage in the evolution of the Malaysian Islamic banking industry. The platform facilitates direct investment by investors in viable projects just like other fintech platforms such as Peer-to-peer lending. IAP provides an innovative avenue for Islamic banks’ customers to earn higher investment returns with competitive tax incentives. The key difference between IAP and other technology-based fund-raising platforms lies in the intermediation roles played by the Islamic banks.
