On 14 April 2025, The Edge Malaysia published our piece on why Malaysia should adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency. I reproduce the article below. Continue reading
judicial manager
Ex Parte Interim Judicial Manager Appointed Over Listed Company
Financially-distressed public listed company, Sarawak Cable Berhad, is placed under interim judicial management. Its former lawyers obtained an ex parte order to appoint an interim judicial manager over the company.
With the amendments to the Companies Act 2016, this is the first instance of a judicial management application being applied to a listed company.
I have had a read of the judicial management court papers and also read the various Bursa announcements to piece together the following chronology.
Firing Up and Cooling Off the Restraining Order in Schemes of Arrangement
The Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 came into force on 1 April 2024. With the amendments, we see a strengthening of the restructuring and corporate rescue laws of Malaysia.
Among the different corporate rescue tools, schemes of arrangement had already been the most-used mechanism in Malaysia. The scheme of arrangement allowed for the Court to grant moratorium protection known as the restraining order.
Here, I analyse the changes and challenges relating to the restraining order arising from the new amendments to the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016).
9 Key Restructuring Insolvency Changes in Malaysia’s Companies Amendment Bill 2023
Malaysia’s Companies Amendment Bill 2023 has been tabled before Parliament’s House of Representatives (see Hansard for 10 October 2023). There will be a fuller Parliamentary debate towards the end of November 2023.
This article focuses on the 9 key restructuring and corporate rescue amendments.
All references below will be to the existing and proposed new sections in the Companies Act 2016 as referred to in the Companies Amendment Bill 2023.
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6 Recent Developments in Restructuring and Insolvency: Malaysia Insolvency Conference 2023
The Malaysia Insolvency Conference 2023 was held on 21 June 2023 and it made a return to a physical setting after 3 years. We saw a record turnout of attendees from the restructuring and insolvency community. I spoke at a panel session titled ‘Landmark Cases: Sharing on Insolvency and Restructuring’ and spoke with fellow insolvency specialists.
I set out a selection of 6 key recent trends we discussed and prepared for the panel discussion. I have also supplemented some of the legal points with additional research I made.
Case Update: A Second Judicial Management Order – Extending JM Past 12 Months
The High Court in Syed Ibrahim & Co v Trans Fame Offshore Sdn Bhd [2022] MLJU 1380 (grounds of judgment dated 16 June 2022) involved the Court granting a second judicial management order. In effect, this allowed for the company to be under judicial management even past the initial 12-month period of the first judicial management order.