Companies Bill

Companies Act 2016 Audit Exemption: Opposition to Exempting Small Companies

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In my earlier post, I had highlighted the proposed audit exemption for dormant companies and small companies under the Companies Act 2016. This would be carried out through a Practice Directive on Audit Exemption. The Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM)  invited feedback on this proposed move.

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Pic from NY – http://nyphotographic.com/

SSM has now published the feedback it has received and has extended the deadline for feedback until 28 February 2017. From the feedback, there appears to be mixed views. In general, there is support for allowing dormant companies to no longer require an auditor. However, there are differing views on whether to allow audit exemption for small companies. A majority of the responses objected to such an exemption. Continue reading →

The Malaysian Lawyer in the Media

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Early on in my legal practice, I thought to myself that I would like to one day be featured in one of the business dailies. I wanted to work hard so that I had enough knowledge to share my views.

Coincidentally, I was already following Marcus’ Counsel column in The Edge. I did not know my fellow The Malaysian Lawyer back then. He was one of the few lawyers (if not, only lawyer) writing regularly on corporate-related matters at that time. I was thinking this relatively young lawyer, with the ang moh surname, already had his own column in a leading financial newspaper.

Marcus and I of course eventually met in person, became good friends, and then on a whim, set up The Malaysian Lawyer website. We wanted to continue to share our writing. Specifically, cutting out unnecessary legalese and use clear effective language in our legal articles.

From our small platform, the number of readers of The Malaysian Lawyer has exploded and it has been picked up by media outlets. Bloomberg TV, BFM radio and Focus Malaysia have all come across this website and invited me to speak with them.

More recently, I was featured on the cover story for Malaysia SME newspaper for their 11 June 2016 edition. I was interviewed on the impact of the new Companies Bill on SMEs in Malaysia. Continue reading →

Interview on Focus Malaysia: New law gives minorities, auditors more clout

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I was interviewed by Focus Malaysia and was featured in their 4 June issue. The article was titled ‘New law gives minorities, auditors more clout’.

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The article was on the Companies Bill 2015 and how it would impact public-listed companies in particular.

Continue reading →

BFM Interview: Companies Bill 2015 – A Big Bang Approach

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About two weeks ago, I had a pre-recorded interview with BFM to share my views on the new Companies Bill 2015.

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This morning, the segment was aired as part of its Current Affairs series. You can click on to the podcast.

I generally shared why the new changes are to be welcomed and I traced the long process to arrive where we are at. On the one hand, we adopted the best practices from other jurisdictions. However, I also shared my personal thoughts on certain areas where we could have improved further. Finally, I shared how the different segments of the industry may be worried about the unknown and of the new.

Appearance on Bloomberg TV: Suits meets The Newsroom

Lee ShihLeave a comment

Bloomberg Malaysia came across my earlier TML post on the Companies Bill and invited me on their show  to have a short chat. I was a bit nervous leading up to it, with it being my first TV interview. But I am glad I got to share my views on the new Bill.

I spoke about how the new laws would transform the corporate landscape, spur entrepreneurship and also strengthen corporate governance.

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That whole experience felt a bit like Suits meets The Newsroom. A lawyer getting a small glimpse into the inner workings of a news studio.

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Bloomberg has also uploaded the clip on their YouTube channel and you can view it below.

https://youtu.be/t2sT-yasUnk

Continue reading →