Companies Commission of Malaysia issues Guidelines for the Reporting Framework for Beneficial Ownership of Companies

30 May 2024

On 1 April 2024, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (“CCM”) published the Guidelines for the Reporting Framework for Beneficial Ownership of Companies (“2024 Guidelines”), together with Case Studies and Illustrations of the Reporting Framework for Beneficial Ownership of Companies, to assist companies in understanding and fully complying with the beneficial ownership reporting requirements pursuant to the Companies (Amendment) Act 2024.

The improvements include:

• A new definition of “beneficial owner” as a natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company through interest in shares and effective interest and includes an individual who exercises ultimate control over the company;
• The obligation of companies to have in place a separate register of beneficial owners that must be kept at the registered office; and
• The obligation of beneficial owners to notify companies of their status as beneficial owners of the companies including any changes to the beneficial ownership information recorded in the register of beneficial owners kept by the companies at the registered office.

The 2024 Guidelines supersede the Guideline for Reporting Framework for Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons issued on 1 March 2020 and
17 December 2020.