Summary

There have been welcome developments in the law governing corporate restructuring and insolvency introduced by the new Malaysian Companies Act 2016.

The new Companies Act marks major legislative changes to Malaysian corporate law. Two significant developments introduced under the Companies Act 2016 relate to judicial management and corporate voluntary arrangements.

Judicial management

Introduction

Typically, once an order has been drawn up and sealed, the court becomes functus officio and has no power to vary or set aside the same. However, an exception to this rule is where an order has been irregularly obtained. This exception was recently expounded on in the leading Federal Court decision of Badiaddin bin Mohd Mahidin v Arab Malaysian Finance Bhd.(1)

Introduction

It is well known that directors have a duty to act in good faith and in a company's best interests. This duty takes centre stage, especially in times when a company's survival is threatened.

Introduction

The Federal Court recently addressed the proper construction of Section 93(3) of the Bankruptcy Act 1967 and Rule 276 of the Bankruptcy Rules 1967 in Ambank (M) Berhad v Lim Sue Beng.(1) In this appeal, the Federal Court was requested to decide on the following question of law:

In the recent decision of Cubic Electronics Sdn Bhd (in liquidation) v Mars Telecommunications Sdn Bhd [2019] CLJ 723 (“Cubic Electronics”), the apex court of Malaysia revisited the principles on forfeiture of deposits and the treatment of liquidated damages clauses in contracts.  

FACTS

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Facts

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Earlier this year, both the lower and upper houses of Malaysia’s parliament, passed the Companies Bill 2015 (“theBill”) which will harmonise Malaysia's insolvency laws and bring them more in line with modern international standards. Once the Bill comes into effect (it is currently awaiting Royal Assent), it will replace Malaysia’s existing Companies Act 1965.

On 21 November 2016, the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2016 (Bill) was tabled in Parliament. The Bill will rename the Bankruptcy Act 1967 to the Insolvency Act 1967 and will have important implications, in particular to financial institutions and corporates whose loans / debts are secured by personal guarantees, once their amendments are incorporated in the existing Bankruptcy Act 1967 (Act) and are passed and in force.