I will be giving a talk to the Malaysian Institute of Accountants on 17 December 2013 entitled ‘The Companies Bill – Revamping the Companies Act 1965.” The Companies Bill is a significant revamp of the Act and having spoken informally to some of the officers from the relevant authorities, it does appear that they are keen to push through this Bill as soon as possible and to have it tabled before Parliament some time next year hopefully. The version of the Bill I have included in this post is the draft which was released for public consultation. There will likely be a number of amendments (including typographical as well as certain gaps to be plugged) but I expect the main provisions to still remain the same.

The structure of the talk will cover these topics:

1. History of the Companies Bill
2. Incorporation Related Matters
3. Changes to Filing Requirements
4. Share Capital
5. Company Secretaries
6. Meetings and Written Resolutions
7. Directors & Auditors
8. Changes to Capital Reduction

In my slides, I have referenced some background reading material which will shed light on the rationale behind many of the provisions in the Bill. This makes for very useful reading when trying to interpret the Bill. The material are the Consultative Documents (CD) which were issued in 2007 explaining the recommendations for changes to the Act and seeking for feedback. With the responses, the Corporate Law Reform Committee issued its Final Report in 2008.

1. CD1 General Framework
2. CD2 Capital Maintenance
3. CD3 Shareholders
4. CD4 Liquidation
5. CD5 Director Duties
6. CD6 Minority remedies
7. CD7 Regulatory for Businesses
8. CD8 Capital Reduction Share Buyback
9. CD9 Substantial Property Transactions
10. CD10 Rehabilitation and Receivership
11. CD11 Sanctions
12. CD12 Auditors
13. CLRC Final Report