On 2 July 2013, the Companies Commissions of Malaysia
("CCM") released the exposure draft of the Companies Bill
2013 ("Bill") which is claimed will
"revolutionise the way people do business in
Malaysia". Among the many ground-breaking changes
proposed under the Bill are the introduction of a no par value
shares regime, the use of solvency statements for certain
transactions, provisions for appointment of a judicial manager and,
the subject of this article, the re-writing of the rules on
dividend.
Section 365(1) of the Companies Act ("CA") provides
that "No dividend shall be payable to the shareholders of
any company except out of profits or pursuant to Section
60." Section 60 which permits dividends to be paid out of
the share premium account through the issue of shares to members,
falls outside the scope of this article.
