Bank Negara Malaysia, the Central Bank of Malaysia, has on 15 December 2021 issued an exposure draft of the Payment System Operator policy document. The PSO Exposure Draft is intended to apply to all approved operators of a payment system under the Malaysian Financial Services Act 2013 and Malaysian Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. The objectives of the PSO Exposure Draft are to: (i) ensure the safety, efficiency and reliability of payment systems; (ii) preserve public confidence in the payment systems and the use of payment instruments; and (iii) ensure payment systems are aligned with relevant international standards.

On 28 December 2021, the Securities Commission of Malaysia revised the Rules on Take-overs, Mergers and Compulsory Acquisitions (Rules). The effective date of the revisions is 29 December 2021. This Alert focuses on the key amendments introduced to the Rules and a comparison against equivalent provisions under the United Kingdom’s Takeover Code, the Singapore Code on Take-Overs and Mergers and the Hong Kong Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-Backs.

For a little over a year now, the financial sector has been occupied with the need for resilience in the face of the challenges posed by the pandemic, but we are now swiftly and surely moving into the reform and renewal stages of recovery. It’s now time to reflect on what is changing as well as the lessons we have learnt so that the financial sector can continue to best serve and support its clients and markets.