KUALA LUMPUR: The Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) has issued a Consultative Document on Proposed Trust Companies Bill to obtain feedback and views on the proposed bill.
SSM, in a statement today, said that the consultation document can be accessed via SSM's official website, www.ssm.com.my and members of the public are invited to give their feedback via email to lrpia@ssm.com.my by May 2. Any inquiries regarding the document can also be directed to the same email address.
The Trust Companies Act 1949 (Act 100) which came into force on Sept 28, 1949, in West Malaysia and on Jan 1, 1973, in East Malaysia, provides for the registration and regulation of companies carrying out trust businesses or trust-related activities in Malaysia.
The law has never been reviewed since its last revision which came into force on March 15, 1973.
As part of its corporate law reform programme, SSM commenced the initiative to review the act in 2018 with the proposal to repeal and modernise it by replacing it with a new Trust Companies Bill.
The drafting of the Trust Companies Bill also reflects the recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as well as the legislative and technical gaps identified by the FATF, as published in the Mutual Evaluation Report, following the mutual evaluation exercise conducted in 2015 relating to money laundering and terrorism financing.
On March 7, 2018, SSM published a consultation document titled 'Consultation Document on the Review of the Trust Companies Act 1949' and received various responses from the industry, government agencies and statutory bodies.
The new Trust Companies Bill contains 17 policy statements which can be divided into four main clusters, namely Parameter of Activities and Mandatory Registration Regime; Beneficial Ownership Reporting Framework; Management of Trust Companies and Restructuring and Cessation of Trust Companies. - Bernama