(Sec update) Role of Company Secretary Under the AMLD Malaysia

(Sec update) Role of Company Secretary Under the AMLD Malaysia

What is the Role of the Company Secretary’s play as a reporting institution under the Anti-money Laundering, Anti-terrorism Financing and proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA)?

What is Malaysian AMLA regime?

Before we determine our role, we should understand the meaning of money laundering. Money laundering is a process of converting cash, funds or property derived from criminal activities to give it a legitimate appearance. It is a process to clean ‘dirty’ money to disguise its criminal origin.

How about terrorism financing? It is an act of providing financial support to terrorists or terrorist organisations to enable them to carry out terrorist acts or to benefit any terrorist or terrorist organisation.

Like many other countries, Malaysia government is highly concerned about this area, where money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing pose a significant challenge to the financial system and the overall business sector.

What is The Role of Company Secretary Under AML

Company secretaries are required to comply with Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism and Targeted Financial Sanctions for Designated Non-Financial businesses and professions & non-Bank financial institutions policy documents (BNM Policy Document).

Company secretaries are appointed as one of the reporting institutions by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), they are playing an important role in this area.

They are required to take the necessary steps to prevent Money laundering / Terrorism Financing and have a system to report suspected transactions to the Financial Intelligence and Enforcement Department (FIED).

Company secretaries have to carry out the following measures to prevent Money Laundering / Terrorism Financing :

  • Compliance with laws

  • Cooperation with law enforcement agencies

  • Establishing internal Control

  • Risk-based approach

  • Customer Due Diligence

A Company Secretary is mandated to conduct CDD on customers when establishing business relations by overseeing transactions. To identify and verify the customer’s identity using reliable, independent source documents, data or information such as identification card.

Additionally, it is crucial to verify the authorization of any person acting on behalf of the customer and confirm their identity. The company secretary must ensure the beneficial ownership’s identity by using reliable information to ensure confidence in their identification.

AMLA Reporting Entity

There are many appointed Reporting Institutions, both in the financial and non-financial sectors.

For examples:

  • Financial Intermediaries,

  • Lawyers,

  • Accountants,

  • Registered Estate Agents, and etc.

All appointed reporting Institutions to work hand in hand with the Malaysian Government and Bank Negara Malaysia to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, contributing to Malaysia’s brighter future.

PS : Authored by Hui Ting, our secretary associate in THK, in her personal LinkedIn post

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