Practising Certificates for Company Secretaries: Proposed Regulations

Lee Shih3 Comments

The Companies Commission of Malaysia, or Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM), will be bringing into force the last remaining provision of the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016). This is section 241 of the CA 2016 on the requirement for all company secretaries to register with SSM. SSM will issue practising certificates to all company secretaries.

In line with the coming into force of section 241 of the CA 2016, SSM has published  its Consultative Document on the Proposed Companies (Practising Certificate) Regulations 2019. SSM has invited comments on the Consultative Document by 30 October 2018.

I set out a bit of history leading up to this important provision for registration of all company secretaries, and my observations on the Consultative Document. Continue reading →

Shareholders’ Agreement to Appoint a Director: Not an Absolute Right

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Shareholders’ agreements and joint venture agreements usually contain provisions that allow for a shareholder to appoint a certain number of directors to the Board of the company. This allows for the balancing of the rights and commercial interests of the shareholders. For example, a minority shareholder may want to ensure that there is a guaranteed minimum Board representation that the minority shareholder can have.

The question is whether this contractual right to appoint a director is an absolute right and what is the legal nature of this power to appoint a director. Could there be situations where the board of directors will refuse to recognise the appointment of a director under a shareholders’ agreement? How is this interpreted in Malaysia under the Companies Act 2016?

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MACC States that the Corporate Liability Law in force in 2020

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The Edge and The Malaysia Gazette reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has stated that the corporate liability provision of the MACC Act will be in force in 2020. This two-year period is in line with my earlier post on the Parliamentary debate during the tabling of the Amendment Bill.

The one takeaway of this new corporate liability is this. Essentially, when a person associated with a company commits a corrupt act to obtain a business advantage, this will expose the company to committing a criminal offence. This will then have serious repercussions on the directors and management of the company.

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CIPAA: Adjudication Leading the Way?

The Malaysian Lawyer2 Comments

The recent International Malaysia Law Conference 2018 was held on 14 to 17 August 2018. The conference featured an adjudication session titled ‘CIPAA: Adjudication Leading the Way?‘ A very enlightening, and somewhat troubling, discussion on how adjudication has developed in Malaysia over the last four years since its coming into force. Adjudication may not have achieved its aims of providing a swift resolution of disputes.

Image from http://www.engineersjournal.ie

 

The session featured three very experienced construction and adjudication practitioners. Ir Harbans Singh, a chartered engineer, arbitrator, adjudicator, mediator, and advocate and solicitor (non practicing). Rohan Arasoo, partner of Harold Lam Partnership. Belden Premaraj, principal partner of Belden.

The panel discussed whether adjudication was a success in Malaysia and whether it raised more hurdles for the construction industry players. The panel looked into the statistics of past adjudications and the case law that has developed.

The following is a report by Kelvin Seah who attended the interesting session. Continue reading →

Bankruptcy and Directors: Vacating Seat and Potential Illegality

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There can be legal repercussions to a company when one of its directors is adjudged bankrupt. It is common in the constitution or articles of association to provide that the office of the director will become vacant if the director becomes bankrupt. I set out below three interesting legal issues that arise from bankruptcy and directors.

First, I will deal with the potential adverse impact of bankruptcy on directors’ resolutions and legal proceedings. This in light of the recent Court of Appeal decision in Sazean Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd v Bumi Bersatu Resources Sdn Bhd [2018] 5 AMR 443; [2018] MLJU 839. This decision was under the Companies Act 1965 (CA 1965). Secondly, I interpret these issues in light of the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016). Thirdly, potential ways to overcome such arguments. Continue reading →

IMLC Conference Paper: Navigating the Directors’ Duty to Act in the Best Interest of the Company

Lee Shih2 Comments

On 15 August 2018, I spoke at the International Malaysia Law Conference 2018. I presented my paper on Navigating the Directors’ Duty to Act in the Best Interest of the Company. I have uploaded my paper and you can click on the link.

The paper analysed the Federal Court decision in Tengku Dato’ Ibrahim Petra bin Tengku Indra Petra v Petra Perdana Bhd [2018] 2 MLJ 177, FC, or otherwise known as the Petra Perdana decision. The principle on the division of powers between the directors and shareholders was also compared with the present position under section 195 of the Companies Act 2016. Continue reading →