Malaysian Government Securities and Malaysian Treasury Bills, and Government Investment Issues (GII) are issued regularly by auction to primary dealers on the Fully Automated System for Issuing and Tendering (FAST), or as private placements to the Employee's Provident Fund (EPF). In the case of GIIs, all Islamic banks are allowed to participate in the auction. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) also issues its own BNM bills by auction on the FAST. Merdeka savings bonds are issued by BNM to Malaysian retirees through agent banks. A list of appointed principal dealers is linked below.

Malaysia's Primary Dealer System

BNM annually appoints selected banking institutions as principal dealers based on their capabilities to handle large volume transactions as measured by their shareholders' fund, secondary market trading volume, and overall risk management capabilities. Principal dealers are obliged to participate actively in the primary and secondary markets, to bid for at least 10% of the instruments specified in the primary auction, and to provide reasonable two-way price quotations under all market conditions in order to ensure liquidity in the secondary market. Corporations may issue private debt securities without prior assessment by the Securities Commission (SC), but only if the private debt securities guidelines on transparency have been met. This is in line with SC's disclosure-based regulatory framework for fund raising.

Secondary market trading in Malaysia is done via the over-the-counter (OTC) market or through money brokers.

Within the Malaysian primary market, the FAST allows electronic submission and processing of tenders for scripless securities and short-term private debt securities. FAST also enables repurchase transactions between Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and interbank institutions under the Fully Automated Repo System.

Bursa Malaysia (formerly the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) lists some private debt securities. It oversees all trading transactions through the System on Computeried Order Routing and Execution (SCORE) and WinSCORE trading systems.

On March 2008, the Bond Information and Dissemination System (BIDS) was replaced with the Electronic Trading Platform (ETP). BIDS was a centralized database for Malaysian debt securities that was integrated with FAST. BIDS provided information on terms of issue; real-time prices, details of trades completed, and provide relevant news on debt securities issued by both the Government and the private sector. ETP carries out electronic secondary market trading and reporting.

For the derivatives market, the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia, operates a futures market for government securities and the Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (KLIBOR).

The Labuan International Financial Exchange (LFX) also lists and trades bonds. LFX is an offshore financial exchange based in Labuan, which is the international offshore financial center for Malaysia. It offers complete services from the submission of application to approval, listing, trading, and settlement of the instruments listed. LFX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia.

Malaysia's over-the-counter (OTC) market is facilitated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) through FAST. It provides information on issue terms, real-time prices, completed trade details, and other relevant news about debt securities.

Nearly all securities are scripless, with securities transfer conducted electronically. In BNM’s Real-time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities (RENTAS) system, transfer instructions are handled on a trade-by-trade basis, with the transfer of securities occurring simultaneously with the transfer of funds for payment.