​Interest Schemes Law In Malaysia

Interest Schemes Law In Malaysia

Author: Seow Hock Peng

Publisher: UM Press

ISBN: 9789674880859

Year: 2018

Price: RM52

Interest schemes were previously regulated under the nowrepealed Companies Act 1965. The Act was utilised to regulate long-term memberships offered by golf, recreational and timeshare clubs. In 2007, the first investment scheme was approved, pooling financial contributions from the public on which the subscribers earned profits. Later, approvals were granted for more plantation and aquaculture-related investment vehicles, such as share-farming schemes or grower’s plot schemes, breeding of livestock such as swiftlets and catfish for commercial purposes, as well as land banking schemes. However, there were concerns that interest schemes were not as transparent and well-regulated as investments in shares of a listed company or unit trusts. There were also concerns over whether the Companies Commission of Malaysia had less stringent control on management structure under section 84 of the Companies Act, compared with supervision by the Securities Commission or Bursa Malaysia. The enactment of the Interest Schemes Act 2016, a stand-alone statute, is the right way forward and bodes well for the industry. The new legislation has been welcomed by industry players as they feel it provides the industry with a firm foundation on which it can prosper and investors can be protected. It also has provisions for stronger investor protection and greater regulatory powers for the Companies Commision of Malaysia.