LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) continued its holistic multipronged approach in protecting and empowering investors, especially in light of the rise in scams and unlicensed activities in the capital market.

The commission in its Annual Report 2022 released yesterday said it continued efforts to empower investors through social media engagements and other investor education outreach programmes, both virtually and physically.

“The SC employed a threepronged approach including reprimanding, imposing penalty as well as issuing stern warning letters to the individuals involved respectively.

“As an enforcement agency, the SC has a wide range of tools at its disposal and employs them effectively taking into account the seriousness of the offence, impact to investors, possibility of recovery of monies, time and cost involved,” said the report.

In addition, to combat the growth of investment scams and clone firms, the SC set up an internal task force to accelerate investigations and initiation of enforcement actions against potential fraudulent perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Center (SIDREC), an independent and impartial dispute resolution body for the capital market, continued to facilitate the resolution of monetary disputes between retail investors and market intermediaries in an accessible, efficient and effective manner.

It added that the SIDREC enhances investor protection by affording investors access to settlement of disputes through case management, mediation and adjudication, without the need to resort to expensive litigation.

“In 2022, SIDREC received 239 claims and enquiries, out of which 72 were eligible disputes (2021: 275 claims and enquiries, of which 47 were eligible disputes).

“About 80.6 per cent (25 out of 31) of the eligible disputes resolved in 2022 were resolved through case management and mediation without having to proceed to adjudication,” said the commission. — Bernama