On 17 March 2021, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced that the MACC will be making the first charge under Malaysia’s corporate liability provision – section 17A of the MACC Act.
MACC’s press release is set out below (in the Malay language only):
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.
The MACC Amendment Bill 2018 has been presented in Parliament on 26 March 2018. One of the key changes is the introduction of corporate liability for corruption offences. If the Bill is passed, these provisions will come into force once the amendment Act is gazetted. [edit: Since writing this article, it has also been reproduced in theSun newspaper on 30 March 2018. The MACC Amendment Act has now been gazetted on 4 May 2018 and where I share more of my thoughts.]
The main thrust of this Bill is to introduce a new far-reaching corporate liability provision into the MACC Act. There are key changes and steps that companies, and its directors and officers have to be aware of.
