SC Guidelines on Product Governance: Target Market, Approval and Review
The Securities Commission Malaysia's Guidelines on Product Governance were issued on 24 June 2025 and took effect on 2 January 2026, which means every capital market product issuer and distributor should already be running a product governance process, not planning to build one. The guidelines require a target market to be identified for every product before it reaches a customer, a documented approval process before launch or distribution, and an ongoing review once the product is live, because a target market that was correct at launch does not necessarily stay correct as the market, the customer base or the product itself changes.
This one-day programme is written as a catch-up course for firms that have an informal process at best, not as advance preparation for something still coming. It works through target market identification in practical terms, the product approval sign-off a firm needs to be able to produce evidence of, the ongoing review obligation and what should trigger an early re-review, and the separate but connected obligations that fall on an issuer designing a product versus a distributor placing it with customers, since the two are frequently different entities. Orbix is an independent training provider and is not affiliated with, and does not act on behalf of, the Securities Commission Malaysia.
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Programme Agenda
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Welcome and Programme Overview
Introduction to the session, objectives, and housekeeping.
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
What the Guidelines on Product Governance Require
The guidelines' effective date of 2 January 2026, who they apply to across product issuers and distributors, and the three obligations that sit at the centre of the framework: target market identification, a documented approval process, and ongoing product review.
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Identifying a Target Market in Practice
Defining a target market that is specific enough to be useful rather than a generic description of every possible customer, the characteristics a target market definition should actually capture, and working through target market identification on a sample product so the method, not just the theory, is covered.
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
The Product Approval Process
What has to happen, and who has to sign off, before a product is launched or distributed: the evidence an approval decision needs to leave behind, and why a verbal sign-off or an email thread is not the same thing as a documented approval process a reviewer can later test.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM - 2:20 PM
The Ongoing Product Review Obligation
Why a target market that was correct at launch can drift, the events that should trigger an early re-review rather than waiting for a scheduled one, and building a review cycle that is proportionate to the product rather than either skipped or run as a box-ticking exercise.
2:20 PM - 3:15 PM
Issuer Obligations Versus Distributor Obligations
How the guidelines separate the obligations of the entity that designs a product from the entity that distributes it, why a product's distribution chain is frequently not the same entity as its designer, and what each side needs from the other to discharge its own obligation.
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Break
3:30 PM - 4:10 PM
Documentation the SC Will Expect to See
The records a product governance file should contain by the time a reviewer asks for it, and the common documentation gaps that turn a procedural lapse into a harder finding.
4:10 PM - 4:45 PM
Applied Workshop: Target Market Identification on a Sample Product
Participants take a sample product, identify its target market, draft the approval evidence a sign-off would need, and finish with a gap list against their own organisation's current process.
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Wrap-Up and Q&A
Key takeaways, next steps, and close.
Key Outcomes
- Explain what the Guidelines on Product Governance require and since when
- Identify a target market for a given product in practical, specific terms
- Build a product approval process that leaves the evidence a reviewer would expect to see
- Design an ongoing product review cycle, including the events that should trigger an early re-review
- Distinguish issuer obligations from distributor obligations under the guidelines
- Assess the organisation's own product governance documentation against what a reviewer expects to see
Training Mode Physical / Online / Hybrid / e-learning
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Level Foundation to intermediate. For product, compliance, legal and distribution teams at fund management companies, unit trust management companies, stockbroking firms and other SC-licensed product issuers and distributors.
Duration 1 Day (8 Hours) | 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Venue In-house at the client's premises, or delivered via the client's preferred platform (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or equivalent)
Assessment A target market identification workshop producing a documentation gap list, plus a written knowledge check
Certificate Certificate of Completion issued to all participants upon full attendance