Top 5 Arbitration Cases in Malaysia 2021

I feature the Top 5 Arbitration Cases in Malaysia for the year 2021. This follows the past editions of the 2020 cases and the 2019 cases.

This year-end review covers the issues on the seat of arbitration for West Malaysia and East Malaysia, the stay of arbitration proceedings, court reliefs after the issuance of the arbitral award, the availability of the Mareva injunction interim measure, and the grant of an anti-arbitration injunction.

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Top 5 Company Law Cases in Malaysia 2021

We start this year’s Top 5 cases series with a feature on the Top 5 Company Law Cases in Malaysia for 2021 (see the 2020 Company Law Cases edition and the 2019 Company Law Cases edition).

This list will cover decisions on shareholder’s oppression, the shadow director, indemnity for officers, pre-emptive right and adjourned general meetings.

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Scomi Group Berhad Revives Its Judicial Management Moratorium

On 16 December 2021, Scomi Group Berhad (Scomi) made a stock exchange announcement that the Court of Appeal granted an interim preservation order to prevent legal proceedings against Scomi. In effect, Scomi seems to have obtained a moratorium against all legal proceedings despite the dismissal of its earlier judicial management application. There are some interesting issues that arise from this development. Continue reading

Covid-19 Amendment Bill 2021: 5 Changes Affecting Housing Developers and Purchasers

on 16 December 2021, the Dewan Rakyat of Parliament passed the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021. I will refer to this as the Covid-19 Amendment Bill or the Bill.

The Covid-19 Amendment Bill introduces a new Part XIA as additional modifications to housing development laws.

I wanted to touch on the 5 significant amendments that will affect housing developers and purchasers.

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Malaysia’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill tabled in Parliament

The Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 (“the Bill”) was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today.

Addressing the media, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said that the Bill was drafted by a special project team consisting of representatives from government agencies, academicians, NGOs, as well as following consultation with several other stakeholders. According to Siti Zailah, the Bill will lay the foundations for structural reforms which seeks to “address legal gaps and improve the existing justice system”.

Last month, Siti Zailah shared that 775 sexual harassment cases had been reported so far in 2021, and that those cases were being handled through other laws such as the Penal Code, Employment Act, Communications and Multimedia Act, and the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.

This article sets out the key provisions of the current draft of the Bill.

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Case Update: Who Has to Pay the Liquidator’s Remuneration When Winding Up Reversed?

The Singapore Court of Appeal in AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Company) [2021] SGCA 112 dealt with an important and novel area of winding up law. If a winding up order is subsequently reversed or set aside, who should pay for all the winding up expenses, including the liquidator’s fees?

While this is a Singapore decision, it would be persuasive in Malaysia as our laws are similar. The aim of this update is to focus on this key issue and set out the takeaway points to apply in a Malaysian context.

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