On 30 August 2022, the Indonesian House of Representatives agreed to pass a law ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest regional free trade agreement outside the World Trade Organization — involving 10 ASEAN countries and five non-ASEAN countries, i.e., China, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea. With the passing of this law, which still requires promulgation by the President, RCEP is set to come into force for Indonesia, possibly before the end of the year.
On 26 August 2022, the Minister of Human Resources announced a delay to the implementation date of the amendments to the Malaysian Employment Act. The amendments to the EA were originally anticipated to take effect on 1 September 2022, but this has reportedly been deferred to 1 January 2023. The Minister had clarified that this delay would allow employers to focus, in the short term, on recovering from the difficult economic situation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This would also, practically, provide a longer runway for employers to assess their employment benefits for compliance under the amended EA.
Effective 1 September 2022, substantial amendments will be made to the Employment Act 1955. From 1 September 2022, all employees in Malaysia will be entitled to protection under the Act, except for certain identified sections of the Act.
Following a public consultation held in early 2020, certain amendments to the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will be tabled at the Malaysian Parliament for approval in October 2022. These proposals will introduce new obligations on both data users and data processors.
The Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force has issued the first of a two-part consultation paper to the Consumer Credit Act to obtain feedback from interested parties and members of the public on the proposed enactment of the CCA. The public consultation period will close on 5 September 2022.
Following the developments to the Labuan tax regime through the introduction of economic substance requirements in 2019, the Labuan Companies (Amendment) Act 2022 recently came into effect on 10 June 2022 to amend the Labuan Companies Act 1990. These further developments to the Labuan corporate and regulatory regime clearly highlight Malaysia’s commitment towards adhering to international legal standards of corporate governance and transparency.
Following the issuance of the Exposure Draft of the Bancassurance/Bancatakful Policy Document on 30 August 2021, Bank Negara Malaysia has issued the final Bancassurance/Bancatakaful Policy Document on 30 June 2022. The objectives of the Policy Document are to: ensure bancassurance/bancatakaful remains as a viable and accessible channel for consumers to purchase insurance and takaful products; promote sound market conduct practices that safeguard consumers’ interest through needs-based sales, disclosure and enhanced transparency; and promote market competitiveness and preserve consumer choice.
As global and regional integration increases, multinational companies ought to navigate numerous custom-related complexities and challenges imposed by relevant authorities in any jurisdiction. This webinar series provide an in-depth coverage of legal frameworks, practical issues and key trends and developments surrounding customs audits in select Asia Pacific jurisdictions.
Following the public consultation held in late 2021 on proposed changes to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code (“Content Code”), the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia has now issued the revamped version of the Content Code effective from 30 May 2022.
On 25 April 2022, the Malaysia Competition Commission launched an online public consultation on proposed amendments to the Malaysian Competition Act 2010. Key amendments include (i) introduction of a merger control regime; and (ii) amendments to increase MyCC’s investigation and enforcement powers and enhance its procedures.