Globally, there has been an increasing recognition that the conduct of a company affects various stakeholders around it, and that companies should have regard to environmental, social, human, and economic considerations. These considerations – commonly referred to as ESG considerations – once seen as a voluntary part of companies' corporate governance framework, are now rapidly being enacted into hard law across different jurisdictions. Read more

Infrastructure development has always had strong correlation with a country's economic advancement. With the recently announced 12th iteration of the Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), the Malaysian government has allocated RM400 billion for existing and new developments. The plan details key focuses on its intended economic priorities which includes significant and strategic infrastructure developments that can carry growth potential for foreign investors in these unique and unprecedented times. Read more

Bank Negara Malaysia has announced the launch of the MYOR as the new alternative reference rate (ARR) for Malaysia. Globally, ARRs are being introduced as part of a transition to transaction-based rates, in line with the LIBOR reforms after the global financial crisis. The introduction of ARRs aims to facilitate usage of benchmark rates that are more robust and based upon transactions in active, liquid markets. Read more

Embracing the transition to renewable energy (RE) in order to reduce carbon emissions has been on the agenda for Malaysia. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has set an ambitious target for Malaysia to achieve 20% RE capacity in 2025, and Malaysia is also committed to its contribution to the RE target set by ASEAN, i.e. 35% RE capacity by 2025. Read more

The last few years have seen an increase in the level of enforcement by the Competition Commission (MyCC), and this trend is set to continue. It is important for both local and foreign enterprises to be aware of the implications of the MyCC's increased level of activity. Read more

Like most competition law regimes around the world, Malaysia’s Competition Act 2010 contains provisions prohibiting anti-competitive practices and abuses of dominance. However, it does not currently include the third “pillar” of competition law that is common to many other regimes, namely, cross sector merger control rules. Read more

The Malaysian Federal Court has given new guidance on when the separate personality of a company, or the "corporate veil", can be disregarded or pierced to fix liability on its shareholders or controllers. Previously, Malaysian courts would only pierce the corporate veil where a company was used to commit actual or equitable fraud. Read more

It is a cardinal principle of company law that a company can only make distributions out of its profits. While there is a common assumption that this rule applies only to distributions made in the form of cash dividends or distributions in specie of non-cash assets, a recent English High Court decision shows that the scope of the word “distributions” must be viewed through a much broader lens. Read more