KUALA LUMPUR: The government will amend the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 to include a provision on beneficial ownership.
This will make the MACC more effective by boosting its enforcement capabilities, said its Chief Commissioner Latheefa Koya.
She said it was important for companies bidding for government contracts to disclose the names of all beneficiaries of the business.
“Such contracts should not be awarded to companies that are linked to ministers or officials of organisations awarding those contracts,” she said in her keynote address at the Regional Workshop Promoting
Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Southeast Asia here today.
Latheefa cited the cases of SRC International Sdn Bhd, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and another company linked to former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as clear examples to show why strong legislation on beneficial ownership was important.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is facing corruption charges linked to both SRC International and 1MDB. Ahmad Zahid faces similar charges linked to other companies.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said recently that a new provision would be included in the MACC Act to enable graft investigators to identify actual owners of businesses, and not their proxies.
He said this would make it possible to act against the rightful owners if fraudulent activities or wrongdoings had been committed.
The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 countries, defines “beneficial ownership” as “the natural persons who ultimately own or control a customer and/or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted”.
It also includes “those persons who exercise ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement”.
In Malaysia, there already are provisions on beneficial ownership in the Companies Act 2016. Under Sections 56 and 58 respectively, companies are required to make a list of beneficial owners and such list must be declared to the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
Latheefa later told the media that there had been cases that the MACC was unable to handle, making the need for such provision even more pertinent.
