KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The Companies Act (Amendment) 2024, except for four sections, will come into force on April 1, following its gazetting on February 2, announced Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
He stated that Sections 4, 14, 26, and 28 of the Act will come into force at a later date, as they relate to system development aspects.
Armizan emphasised that the primary objective of the amendment is to enhance the corporate rehabilitation framework by aiding companies encountering financial challenges and bolstering the country’s economic revival to maintain competitiveness, particularly in the post-Covid-19 landscape.
“Furthermore, it aims to enhance transparency in Malaysia’s corporate sector ecosystem through improvements in beneficial ownership reporting,” he said at a press conference after launching the revamped Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) call centre here today.
Armizan elaborated that the improvement of the beneficial ownership reporting framework was instituted in response to recent global advancements in combating money laundering, terrorism financing, corruption, and tax evasion.
“Starting this year, Malaysia will be assessed by various international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the context of addressing these activities.”
“We hope that with these amendments, Malaysia will be able to pass the assessments of these bodies and increase foreign investors’ confidence,” said Armizan.
The new provisions of the Act will mandate every company to identify beneficial owners —individuals who control the company either through share ownership of 20 per cent or more or by possessing the capacity to influence the decisions of the company’s board of directors.
Armizan noted that the amendments were enacted following consultations with the corporate community, expressing hope that they would be ready to adhere to all provisions of the Act.
As of February 29, he disclosed, 1.5 million companies had registered with the SSM, with 670,656 of them still active.
Regarding the SSM call centre, known as SSM Customer Care (SSMCC), Armizan stated that this branding aligns with SSM’s evolving service and product innovations to meet customer demands.
“The primary objective of establishing SSMCC is to enhance the quality of SSM’s customer service and ensure that customer complaints and inquiries are handled in an integrated, accurate, prompt, and integrity-driven manner,” he said.
Among the enhancements implemented through SSMCC are the replacement of existing customer inquiry and complaint forms with the latest platform known as Webform, the introduction of the SSM Chatbot accessible 24/7, and the SSM Live Chat platform, he added.
To facilitate customer access to comprehensive information, SSM has also introduced the Knowledge Hub on its official portal, serving as a repository for up-to-date information on SSM’s legislation, products, and services.
For any inquiries, the public can reach out to SSMCC through the Complaints & Feedback section, the SSM Chatbot, and the SSM Live Chat available on the official SSM portal. Alternatively, they can contact SSM by calling 03-7721 4000 or emailing [email protected]. — Bernama
