KUALA LUMPUR (June 12): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) on Thursday announced the full rollout of the Qualified Resident Investor programme for eligible corporates, effective July 1, 2025.
The programme provides flexibility for resident corporates that repatriate and convert foreign currency funds from overseas investments and may have interest in undertaking new or further direct investment abroad in the future.
Corporates approved under the programme will benefit from efficient reconversion of ringgit funds for future direct investment abroad with no prior approval from BNM required.
“Eligible corporates include all resident corporates that repatriate and convert foreign currency proceeds from overseas investments, and demonstrate good corporate governance and compliance with the foreign exchange policy of BNM,” said the central bank.
The programme will be available until June 30, 2028.
The full programme rollout follows the pilot phase introduced in April 2024 when the ringgit faced severe depreciation pressure.
To prop up the currency, authorities roped in its sprawling government-linked companies and corporates in a massive coordinated effort to repatriate and convert their foreign currency balances, promising to approve their re-investment abroad at a later time.
Since its inception, the programme has generated cumulative inflows of more than US$1 billion (RM4.23 billion) into the domestic financial market, BNM added.