The Dewan Negara today passed the Companies Bill 2015 which was aimed at giving more impact in improving internal control, governance and corporate responsibility.
The bill, tabled by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin was passed after being debated by 12 senators.
It was formulated to replace the Companies Act 1965 (Act 125) which was regulated by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), and the bill had earlier been passed at the Dewan Rakyat on April 4.
The bill will do away with outdated procedures in the context of modern business, to reduce costs of compliance via facilitation apart from giving companies flexibility in their daily operation without compromising on internal control and corporate governance.
In winding-up the debate, Hamzah said SSM was always monitoring the activities of foreign companies in the country, including online businesses if companies were found conducting suspicious activities.
"According to monitoring statistics collected, last year we reviewed 2,744 websites while in 2014 we checked 4,112 websites," he said.
Elaborating on the criteria of company name under the bill, Hamzah said there was prohibition on use of certain names including the names which reflected members of the royal family.
"For example, we cannot set up a company with the name, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan...but if the company name is Syukur (bin) Sultan, it is possible under the original individual's name.
"Apart from that, names such as ASEAN Sdn Bhd, UNESCO (Sdn Bhd) and names related to organisations or political parties would not be allowed," he said.
Earlier during the debate, Senator Datuk Seri Boon Som Inong proposed SSM blacklist individuals involved in companies which cheated their employees, including not paying workers their salaries and absconding.
"For example, media reports on March 18 announced more than 20 cleaning workers made police reports because their employers had not paid their salary for two months.
"Unfortunately, the company had moved to another unknown location and the premises registered with SSM in 2008 had closed down," he said.
Boon said there were also companies registered with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) which failed to pay up their contributions.
Therefore, he hoped there would more measures in the bill to protect the welfare of workers.
The Senate sitting will resume on Tuesday.
Bernama
Fri Apr 29 2016
HAMZAH: SSM was always monitoring the activities of foreign companies in the country, including online businesses if companies were found conducting suspicious activities. - BERNAMA pic
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