On 12 July 2024, the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment (“Tribunal”) established under the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 (“Act”), issued its first award in a sexual harassment case involving a male employer and a female employee. This development is a timely reminder that sexual harassment cases occurring within the workplace can still be heard by the Tribunal under the Act, and that employers owe legal duties to its employees in managing workplace sexual harassment.
The long-awaited Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2024 has now been made publicly available. Among the key changes it seeks to introduce are: direct obligations for data processors, mandatory data breach notification, requirement to appoint data protection officer(s), new data subject rights on data portability, an expanded definition of sensitive personal data, and a general legal basis for cross-border transfers.
The Malaysia Cabinet has approved the proposed amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709). These amendments are expected to be tabled in the current Parliamentary session taking place up until 18 July 2024.
The implementation of the beneficial ownership reporting obligations, administered by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (“CCM”), came into effect on 1 April 2024. These statutory and reporting requirements imposed the obligation on companies to notify the CCM of their beneficial owners via the dedicated e-BOS portal. The CCM provided a transition period of three months (from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024) for companies to complete this reporting obligation.
The amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA) and the repeal of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (FMA) will come into effect on 1 June 2024.
The amendments introduce significant and wide-ranging changes to the OSHA (which incorporate provisions of the FMA). These changes include the introduction of new duties and obligations on employers and increased penalties for non-compliance.
The Government of Malaysia has on 15 April 2024 announced that it will establish an Energy Exchange Malaysia (“ENEGEM”) to facilitate cross-border sales of green electricity to neighboring countries, namely Singapore and Thailand. The ENEGEM platform will implement cross-border energy sales based on the latest Guide for Cross-Border Electricity Sales issued by the Energy Commission of Malaysia.
Proposed licensing of social media and internet messaging services providers and a new draft bill on digital safety – these are some of the recent updates in the online content space for Malaysia.
The new Cyber Security Bill 2024 (“Bill”) was tabled for first reading at the Malaysian Parliament on 25 March 2024. The Bill aims to provide a regulatory framework for the safeguarding of Malaysia’s cyber security landscape by requiring national critical information infrastructure entities to comply with certain measures, standards and processes in the management of the cyber security threats and cyber security incidents. To achieve such objectives, the Bill provides for, among others, the establishment of the National Cyber Security Committee, the duties and powers of the Chief Executive, the appointment of national critical information infrastructure sector leads, the designation of national critical information infrastructure entities and the licensing of cyber security service providers.
Excerpt: The Energy Commission of Malaysia has on 1 April 2024 announced that it will undertake the 5th round of competitive bidding process under the Large Scale Solar Program (LSS) or LSS-Peralihan Tenaga SuRiA (“LSS PETRA”). A total solar quota of 2,000MWac will be allocated and four packages, ranging from 1MWac to 500MWac will be offered to the qualified developers (companies or consortiums). This initiative is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to expand renewable energy sources and to ensure a continuous energy supply in the country.
The Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living had appointed 1 April 2024 as the date of coming into force of the Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 (“CA 2024”), which was first tabled for reading before the Dewan Rakyat on 10 October 2023, and received Royal Assent on 24 January 2024. CA 2024 expands the definition of Beneficial Ownership (BO) and mandates companies to obtain and disclose BO information from 1 April 2024. Companies must maintain a BO register accessible by prescribed persons. Corporate Rescue Mechanisms allow companies to apply for restraining orders and introduce a “pre-pack” scheme mechanism and a “cross-class cramdown” system.