It has been at least four years since the idea of introducing
corporate liability in Malaysia for bribery and corruption was
mooted. This may soon be a reality with the proposed amendments to
the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 ("Principal
Act").
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill 2018
("Bill") was passed by the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan
Negara on 4 and 5 April 2018 respectively. The Bill will come into
operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister after it has
received Royal Assent and been gazetted.
The Bill, inter alia, introduces a new section 17A
("section 17A") which provides for corporate liability
vis-à-vis bribery and corruption under the
Principal Act. This article explains the salient features of
section 17A.
