The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 will be amended to include a provision on beneficial ownership.
This will ensure that the owners of enterprises cannot escape legal and enforcement action, said MACC chief Latheefa Koya.
“The government will amend the MACC Act 2009 to allow the authorities to determine who the beneficiary owners are during an investigation.
“The government saw a need for this as there had been many cases where the names of other individuals were used as ‘proxies’ in preventing the original owner from being exposed to probable action,” she said after officiating the Regional Workshop Promoting Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur today.
Latheefa said the full force of the law would be applied on wrongdoers to ensure that unclear or hidden beneficial ownership was not used to enable corrupt activities and criminal enterprises.
She added that this will make the MACC more effective by boosting its enforcement capabilities.
She also 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,” Latheefa said.
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.
“Companies are being used in these cases to cloud the eyes of the enforcement agencies and to legalise their financial gains, or to use their companies to get financial gains without having to reveal their involvement in the companies,” she said.
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.
She elaborated that existing laws and bodies like the Companies Commission were only able to register companies, not compel them to reveal their real owners.
“Based on MACC’s experience, we really need this law because too many proxies are being used. That is why we need to take action.
“[…] We have cases where when we actually go for it, we find out the owner of a set of vehicles (is) the driver when the driver actually can’t afford it. These are the kinds of things we are dealing with.
“We need to make sure that the law is enough to support our investigations,” she explained.
On January 10, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the government would propose the inclusion of a provision in the MACC Act to show the real beneficiary owners in companies.
He said this was one of the matters decided upon at a meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption that he chaired in Putrajaya.