Malaysia Senate passes Bill to amend Insolvency Act
29 October 2020
On 22 September 2020, the Malaysia Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020 (“Bill”) was passed by the Senate (Dewan Negara) without any amendments. The Bill seeks to amend the Insolvency Act 1967 (“Act”) and will be presented for Royal Assent and subsequently become law upon its publication in the Federal Gazette.
The Bill introduces changes including the following:
- Minimum debt threshold: Section 5(1)(a) of the Act will be amended to increase the minimum debt threshold required for the presentation of a bankruptcy petition from RM50,000 to RM100,000. Additionally, the Minister will be empowered after consultation with the Minister of Finance, to amend the minimum threshold in section 5(1)(a) of the Act for a specific time period, if the Minister is satisfied that there are special circumstances and that it would not be contrary to public interest to do so.
- Saving provision: Any bankruptcy petition presented and is still pending immediately before the coming into operation of the Bill will be continued or concluded under the Act as if the Act had not been amended by the Bill.