Malaysia’s securities regulator says it is encouraged by the response it received from the launch of the single family office tax incentive scheme introduced in September last year, and plans to visit the Middle East to attract more wealthy families to sign up for the scheme.
Mohammad Faiz Azmi, chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia, said interest in the single family office tax incentive scheme was “quite good”.
“We have received a number of applications… We are now waiting for the tax orders to be gazetted,” Mohammad Faiz said during the launch of the SC’s 2024 annual report on May 20.
Mohammad Faiz said one of the SC’s focus for 2025 is to operationalise the single family office incentive scheme by providing a “clear, flexible and facilitative structure to enable families to establish their presence efficiently”.
“Once the tax order is gazetted, the aim is to pre-register at least two single family offices in 2025,” he said.
The SC says the establishment and growth of family offices in Malaysia hold “great potential” for the broader economy.
“As wealth is reinvested domestically, it has the power to fuel the expansion of Malaysian companies and industries, fostering innovation and driving economic growth. Beyond financial investments, family offices can also play a pivotal role in supporting local communities through philanthropic initiatives, contributing to social development and creating a lasting impact on the well-being of society,” the SC says.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Faiz said the regulator is planning “a series of visits to the Middle East” this year, starting with Oman this year, and Saudi Arabia in 2026. He said that not many investors and family offices are not aware of the tax incentive scheme offered to single family offices.
“I want to have a conversation with them and to understand where they are coming from, and what are the restrictions. We want to talk to the regulators to understand how open they are to their funds investing in our part of the world. We want to talk to some of the bigger players, but to do that, we have got to be there,” he said.
Malaysia hopes to attract as much as 1.2 billion ringgit (US$272 million) of assets under management by 2030 through the scheme. Through the scheme, single family offices will be given a zero tax rate on their investment returns.
