10 Things on the New Beneficial Ownership Reporting in Malaysia

The Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) has issued the Guideline for the Reporting Framework for Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons. This guideline has already come into force. Companies, limited liability partnerships and businesses have up to 31 December 2020 to obtain and update their beneficial ownership information.

I had earlier written about the global trends on disclosure of beneficial ownership and also the existing Malaysian position in the Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016). I had also made some comments on the consultation document on the proposed beneficial ownership guidelines.

I now write on 10 things on the beneficial ownership framework to Malaysian companies and the responsibilities that follow.

Continue reading

Choosing the right business vehicle for your startup or small business in Malaysia

This post is a part of a series based on my Law for Startups workshop at MaGIC in September 2015. It’s a basic introduction to legalities for startup founders. You can access the slides here.

Read the earlier posts for context:

  1. Law for startups in Malaysia — building on the best foundations.
  2. The legal landscape in Malaysia for startups — a hybrid of traditional corporate practices and Silicon Valley models.

One of the earliest decisions that a startup or small business founder will have to make is choosing the right business vehicle through which the business/idea will be carried out.

Business vehicle options

The most common business vehicle options in Malaysia are —

  1. sole proprietorships / partnerships;
  2. private limited liability companies (Companies / Sdn Bhd); and
  3. most recently, the limited liability partnership (LLP).
Unfortunately, Elon hasn't made this vehicle available in Malaysia yet.
Unfortunately, Elon hasn’t made this vehicle available in Malaysia yet.

Continue reading