Six Points on Leave to Appeal to the Federal Court

Lee ShihLeave a comment

At the recent Civil Law Conference on 14 February 2020, there was a list of good pointers, statistics and tips set out in the session on leave to appeal to the Federal Court. This post sets out the chances of success and examples of questions where leave was allowed.

As a brief background, in Malaysia, the apex court is the Federal Court. For matters that originated at the High Court, the final level of appeal is before the Federal Court. But an appeal to the Federal Court is not as of right. There must first be an application for leave, or permission, to appeal to the Federal Court. The test for leave is that there must be a question to be decided for the first time or a question of importance where a Federal Court decision would be to public advantage. Where leave is allowed, the Federal Court would then allow the appeal proper to be heard.

Continue reading →

IRB Tax Dawn Raid – How to Deal With It

The Malaysian Lawyer1 Comment

Guest authors, Siong Sie and Desmond Liew, set out tips on what to do if there is a surprise visit or a dawn raid carried out by the Inland Revenue Board.

The news recently featured the new Tax Investigation Framework 2020 of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB).

The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB) actively conducts tax investigations or “raids” on taxpayers. The main purpose of these raids is to deter tax evasion and/or aggressive tax planning with the ultimate aim of enhancing tax compliance. It is not uncommon for the IRB to have obtained a reasonable amount of information – either through its own global intelligence or through informers – prior to conducting a dawn raid on a taxpayer.

Siong Sie and Desmond, set out some tips on what to do if there is such a surprise visit or a dawn raid carried out by IRB. Continue reading →

Talk on Resolving Boardroom and Shareholders Disputes

Lee ShihLeave a comment

On Tuesday 7 April 2020, I will be speaking at the Companies Commission of Malaysia seminar on ‘Resolving Boardroom and Shareholders Disputes‘. It is a half day talk from 9am to 1pm and with a registration fee of RM250 or RM300. It is open to members of the public.

I am looking forward to sharing practical insight from the various cases I have worked on. I frequently receive queries from company secretaries, directors and shareholders on certain disputes. I then designed this seminar around these often raised issues. Continue reading →

The Airbus Bribery Case Study: Six Corporate Liability Lessons for Malaysian Companies

Lee ShihLeave a comment

I set out six cautionary lessons for Malaysian companies arising from the Airbus US$4 billion global resolution for bribery involving authorities from the UK, France and the United States.

In the UK, Airbus faced five counts of failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery. This was under section 7 of the UK Bribery Act. This section 7 is a similar provision to Malaysia’s section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, known as the corporate liability provision. I have written about the elements of Malaysia’s corporate liability here.

You can read the UK High Court grounds of judgment in relation to the Airbus settlement through the deferred prosecution agreement. You can also read the detailed agreed Statement of Facts for all the background facts.

From the Airbus case study, I set out below six cautionary lessons for Malaysian companies, especially where we are on the brink of seeing the introduction of corporate liability on 1 June 2020. Continue reading →

How to Qualify as a Liquidator in Malaysia

Lee Shih5 Comments

Qualified persons can now apply to be licensed as liquidators, or also known as insolvency practitioners, in Malaysia. This allows for the licence holder to take on appointments as: (i) liquidator; (ii) receiver or receiver and manager; (iii) judicial manager; and (iv) a nominee in a corporate voluntary arrangement.

The Accountant General of Malaysia recently issued its Guidelines for Qualification as Liquidator under the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016) dated 21 January 2020 (only available in the Malay language). This now allows for qualified persons to apply for a liquidator licence under the CA 2016.

I write about the past qualification route for liquidators under the Companies Act 1965 (CA 1965) and this new qualification regime under the CA 2016. Continue reading →

Case Update: Golden Plus Decision – Removal of Directors under the Companies Act 2016

Lee ShihLeave a comment

In the Golden Plus Holdings decision, the High Court sets out give important points relating to the removal of directors under the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016).  You can read the grounds of judgment dated 14 January 2020.

The decision deals with the issues relating to requisitioning an EGM, the unavailability of some directors to attend a Board meeting, whether there can be first a requisition and then a convening of an EGM, the special notice requirement for removal of a director, and whether there can be improper motives to invalidate the removal of a director.

Continue reading →