White Collar Crime Archive

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.

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 cybersecurity landscape by requiring national critical information infrastructure entities to comply with certain measures, standards and processes in the management of the cybersecurity threats and cybersecurity 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 cybersecurity service providers.

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. On 15 December 2023, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) reported that there was a significant increase in harmful content on social media and over-the-top platforms in 2023 as compared to in 2022. Against this backdrop, the Malaysian Government (as with its counterparts in the region) is increasingly concerned about online safety and the harms that materialize as part of the proliferation of online content.

We are pleased to share upcoming developments in relation to the Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 (“CA 2024”) which will anchor the revised beneficial ownership (BO) reporting framework. The approval process of the CA 2024 through the Malaysian Parliament was completed in December 2023. The CA 2024 subsequently received Royal Assent on 24 January 2024 and finally, the CA 2024 was gazetted on 2 February 2024. At this point in time, the CA 2024 has yet to be enforced.

A new Companies (Amendment) Bill 2023 (“2023 CA Bill”) was tabled for its first reading at the Malaysian Parliament. The 2023 CA Bill purports to further augment corporate transparency and accountability, and as such, introduces, among other things, new legal requirements in the CA 2016 for Malaysian companies to collate and report beneficial ownership information to the Companies Commission of Malaysia. In this article, we explore the mandatory reporting requirements proposed under the 2023 CA Bill and their potential implications on the wealth management industry.

On 10 October 2023, the Companies (Amendment) 2023 Bill was tabled for the first reading at the Dewan Rakyat. The Bill, once in force, aims to enhance corporate transparency and accountability by supplementing the existing provisions on beneficial ownership reporting.

Effective 1 September 2023, any person who enters into a contract for service to supply employees to a principal will be entitled to certain protections and subject to obligations under the Employment Act 1955.

In a move towards regulating digital platforms, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced on 5 September 2023 that it:
a. Had been in discussions with certain online platforms to address the challenges posed by the evolving landscape of online media
b. May be seeking to introduce a regulatory framework (in the manner of Australia and Canada) to ensure that news content creators are fairly compensated by online platform providers who use their content
c. Aims to implement “rules of the road” for implementation of artificial intelligence technology (AI)

It has been three years since Section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 came into effect, with the first charge under the provision made in 2021. The recent array of actions by the MACC coupled with the “zero tolerance for corruption” policy launched by the Madani Government provide a timely reminder of the importance of businesses in (i) reviewing their existing procedures and (ii) ensuring adequate procedures are in place to prevent bribery as they afford the only defense against liability under Section 17A.

Recently, we have observed that the labor authorities in Peninsular Malaysia have increased efforts to monitor employers’ compliance with the local laws and practice. With the expansion of the scope of the Malaysian Employment Act (EA) effective 1 January 2023 to cover all employees in Peninsular Malaysia (and Labuan), employers are reminded of their statutory obligations, especially those under the EA.

Following the re-tabling of the Malaysian Budget 2023 on 24 February 2023, the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board and Royal Malaysian Customs Department have reintroduced the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme 2.0 and the Voluntary Disclosure Programme which apply to direct taxes and indirect taxes respectively. A similar programme was previously implemented in 2022 for indirect taxes and in 2019 for direct taxes, although there are some key differences in respect of the scope and incentives.