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Wednesday 16 December 2009

The Star Advertising director slapped with additional 31 charges Kuala Lumpur: A director of an advertising firm, who was charged with 31 counts of laundering RM22mil two months ago, has been slapped with an additional 31 charges. Ame Hamzah Mat Atar, 51, of Bu-luhmas Enterprise Sdn Bhd, pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here yesterday to possessing some RM2.11mil, allegedly earned through illegal activities, in his account at a CIMB Bank Bhd branch in Jalan Tuan-ku Abdul Rahman here on Jan 6. Ame Hamzah claimed trial on Oct 22 at the Klang Sessions Court to the earlier charges, which were allegedly committed between May 2008 and January this year. Sessions Court Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah did not set bail for the additional charges as both parties agreed to retain the RM350,000 bail imposed by the Klang court. However, Ame Hamzah was ordered to report to the nearest police station every month and to surrender his passport to the court. Komathy also fixed Dec 21 for the case to be mentioned at the Klang Sessions Court. Earlier, defence counsel Md Yunos told the court that the case in Kuala Lumpur and that in Klang involved the same transaction and witnesses. Bernama CBT ADB predicts Malaysia GDP to grow 4.5% in 2010 GDP, Economy-Malaysia Employer choice People value an organisation that offers them better career opportunities HRM

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NST LCL listed as PN17-status firm Adeline Paul Raj LCL Corp Bhd , the interior fit-out specialist that defaulted on loans as a result of the Dubai debt crisis, has sunk into Practice Note 17 (PN17) status. "LCL is considered a PN17 company... as the company is unable to provide a solvency declaration to Bursa Securities," it said in a filing with the stock exchange yesterday. The company said its board of directors would come up with a plan to improve its financial condition. The debt-ridden company has a year from now to submit the plan to regulators. LCL has so far defaulted on RM69.4 million worth of loans due to Affin Bank Bhd and RM2.6 million to Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, as it faces difficulty collecting payments for big jobs it had done in Dubai. Given the financial developments in Dubai, there is "heightened uncertainty" as to the extent of the debts it can recover from the Dubai segment, it said. Analysts don't think it will be able to recover its payments anytime soon. "The company may face financing and legal challenges in the near term, including but not limited to, legal proceedings initiated by lenders and trade creditors," LCL said. The stock was at its most active ever yesterday after CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd force sold 16 million shares belonging to LCL's managing director, Datuk Low Chin Meng. The shares, which represented his remaining 11.2 per cent stake in the company, had been pledged by Low as security against financing. LCL's shares rose 8.7 percent to 25 sen on some 41.8 million shares. Two market days earlier, they fallen to a record low of 22 sen. There was more bad news for LCL yesterday as Bursa Securities publicly reprimanded it for not submitting last year's annual audited accounts on time. An analyst from a local brokerge said LCL's way out of this financial mess is to get the commitment of banks to lend it more money so that it can undertake new projects that will enable it to pay off debts. LCL plans to continue operating in Dubai, focusing mainly on debt collection. PN17

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The Sun Director faces another 31 money laundering charges Kuala Lumpur: An advertising company director, who was charged with 31 counts of money laundering involving RM22 million two months ago, was again charged yesterday in the sessions court here with another 31 charges of a similar offence involving more than RM2 million. Ame Hamzah Mat Atar, 51, of Buluhmas Enterprise Sdn Bhd, pleaded not guilty to the new charges. He is charged with possessing RM2,113,208.54 allegedly earned through illegal activities in his account at the CIMB Bank Berhad, No 338 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, here, on Jan 6 this year. On Oct 22 this year, Ame Hamzah claimed trial in the sessions court in Klang to all the charges for offences he allegedly committed between May 2008 and January this year. Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah did not set any bail when both parties agreed to retain the RM350,000 bail imposed by the Klang sessions court. However, Ame Hamzah was ordered to report to the nearest police station every month and to surrender his passport to the court. Earlier, defence counsel Md Yunos informed the court that the present case involved the same transaction and witnesses as the one in the sessions court. Komathy fixed Dec 21 for the case to be mentioned at the Klang sessions court. Deputy public prosecutor Ungku Alfiati Ungku Ismail and Farez Ram prosecuted. Bernama Malaysias GDP to grow 4.5% next year, says ADB Bangkok: With the global economy slowly recovering, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Malaysias economy to return to growth in 2010. In its special assessment of the region released yesterday, the international development fi nance institution has forecast Malaysias gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 4.5% next year. It said Malaysia was expected to contract 2.5% in 2009 after registering -5.1% in the fi rst half of the year and -1.2% in the third quarter. In a separate Asian Economic Monitor report for December 2009, the Manila-based institution said all of the Asean-4 economies were pummelled by the precipitous drop in external demand but in terms of overall economic impact, Thailand and Malaysia were hurt the most. Thailand is expected to bounce back to a 3.5% growth in 2010 while Indonesia and the Philippines less reliant on exports fared better this year.

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Indonesias robust growth is expected to continue in 2010 with GDP growth rising to 5.4% and the Philippines at 3.3%. Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economy in the region before the current financial crisis which started in the United States, is recovering after bottoming out in the first quarter of this year, and is forecast to grow 6.5%, up from the 5% expansion expected in this year. Singapores GDP is expected to reach 4.5%, recovering from the projected -2% this year while Brunei is expected to contract by 1.2% this year before recovering in 2010, growing 2.3% fuelled by higher global energy demand and petroleum prices. ADB said it had upgraded its economic forecast for developing Asia after third-quarter data showed a better than-expected performance by many countries in the region. It is now expecting developing Asia to grow by 4.5% this year and 6.6% next year, which marks an increase from the 3.9% and 6.4% it predicted in its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2009 Update published in September. The forecast for China remains unchanged from Septembers ADO 2009 Update at 8.2% this year and 8.9% next year, while Indias growth could be 7% this year, one percentage point higher than previously expected, but has kept the 2010 forecast unchanged, also at 7%. The global economic situation is changing rapidly, necessitating frequent reassessments. The prospects for much of the region look rosier than they did in September when we last did a full study of the region, said ADB chief economist Jong-Wha Lee. He said fiscal and monetary stimulus policies and a moderate improvement in the G3 economies of Europe, Japan and the United States helped East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular. Bernama GDP, Economy-Malaysia

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Tuesday 15 December 2009
Financial Daily Competition for the brain power Commentary by Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff THREE international personalities took part in a forum on innovation and change for business sustainability organised by the Graduate School of Business of the Universiti Sains Malaysia last week. There was this professor from a highly reputable university in Australia who was born in Fiji. He is also the editor of a number of international accounting journals. Another panellist was a director at a research centre of an international company in California. He was born in India and now advises a number of business schools around the world. Next was a professor who was born in Ukraine, educated in Sweden and now based in Japan but offers her services in other Asian countries outside Japan. The US, Japan and Australia are ranked second, eighth and 15th in the 2009 Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The economies of these countries are also deemed to be at the third stage of development where competitiveness is driven by innovation. Innovation, especially at the top end of the scale, can only be possible by having brain power that is highly educated and creative. If the international personalities mentioned above are taken as examples, we can deduce that advanced economies give priority to the quality of the brain and care less about where they come from. Furthermore, the low birth rates in developed countries require them to bring in more talents from abroad to ensure their innovation engines continue to churn out globally competitive solutions to be marketed worldwide. So when it was reported in parliament that more than 300,000 Malaysians migrated to other countries between March 2008 and August this year, we Malaysians should be seriously concerned. Ranked 24th in the Competitiveness Index and deemed a Stage 2 economy whereby competitiveness is still driven by higher degrees of efficiencies in producing quality products, we need all the talents and brain power to transition ourselves to the next stage. Apart from following the spouses, all other reasons why these Malaysians migrated education, brighter career and business prospects

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point to the risk of the country being trapped in the middle-income economy. Our income level would not allow us to offer competitive remuneration or rewards for talented people who are also demanded by many other countries. If we look around, there have been many developing countries which eventually ended up as the producers of talents for more developed countries as they could not, on the basis of income levels alone, retain their best. At the same time, most global companies have a worldwide recruitment policy in sourcing for the brightest and smartest individuals irrespective of the colour of the skin that wrap their brains. To them, the quality of the brain is the paramount consideration! Perhaps it is time to pause and reflect on the ways we manage talents in this country. Are there policies which our competitors would like us to retain so that they could grab highly talented Malaysians who are denied opportunities due to the colour of their skin? Some might argue that most Malaysians, especially the Malays, are non-migratory and will continue to serve the country. Well, post-Internet Malaysians may have a very different worldview altogether. The Internet has allowed these young people to have a borderless mindset. They could seek whatever information from wherever that they want. They develop friendships with many people whom they never meet from around the globe and are able to express themselves freely through various platforms such as blogs or other social media. A lot of them are playing games with God-knows-who from other parts of the world through the Internet. To them the world is borderless. What will happen when they start to look for jobs or building their careers? An interesting example of how countries respond to opportunities in the talent competition would be the case of the accountancy profession in Singapore. Last year, they announced the vision of positioning Singapore as the global accountancy hub in the next 10 years. They formed a high level committee and recently, a comprehensive blueprint on how this would be achieved was issued for public consultation. A simple guess is that they will implement the plan by next year. The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) has been proposing to position Malaysia as the hub of accountancy education and training even before the Singaporean initiative was announced. In fact, given the infrastructure and the presence of global accountancy bodies in this country, this is a low-hanging fruit ready to be plucked.

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What is required is only for foreign students to be allowed to work in selected organisations in pursuing their professional accountancy qualifications. If we cannot do this in quick time, how are we going to attract and retain talents to compete? Hopefully, this is not the case of Malaysia Tak Boleh. We look forward to the revelation of the roadmap to move ourselves into a high-income economy soon. It would be a surprise if the issues of retaining talents and fair distribution of opportunities for talented Malaysians are not the key part of this grand plan.
Nik Hasyudeen is the CEO and thought leader of Inovastra Sdn Bhd. He is also the former president of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He can be contacted at nik@inovastra.com

En. Nik Column

The Star Bursa reprimands Tamadam and Flonic Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia yesterday reprimanded Tamadam Bonded Warehouse Bhd and Flonic Hi-Tech Bhd for breach of the listing requirements. The breach by Tamadam was in respect of its announcement dated Feb 27, on its fourth quarterly report for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008 (FY08), which failed to take into account the adjustments stated in the companys announcement dated April 30, Bursa said in a statement. The company had reported an unaudited loss after taxation and minority interest of RM1.284mil in its fourth quarter 2008 compared with an audited loss after taxation and minority interest of RM4.103mil in its annual report for FY08. The difference of RM2.819mil between the unaudited and audited results for FY08 represented a deviation of about 219.5%, it added. The breach by Flonic Hi-Tech was related to its announcement dated March 30 on its fourth quarterly report for the financial period ended Jan 31, 2009 (FY09), which failed to take into account the adjustments as stated in the companys announcement dated May 29, said Bursa. The company had reported an unaudited loss after taxation and minority interest of RM3.616mil in its fourth quarter 2009 against an audited loss after taxation and minority interest of RM6.086mil in its annual audited accounts for FY09.

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The difference of RM2.469mil between the unaudited and the audited results for FY09 represented a deviation of 68.3%, it added. Bernama Bursa Malaysia Motivate your employees In an organisation, workers look for certain factors that are key to retaining them HRM

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THE EDGE MALAYSIA 14-20 December 2009
Finance EDs draw to pay Fong Min Hun MSWG, Corporate governance A new frontier for risk management Halena Barton Societys expectations of companies have broadened over the past decade. It is no longer enough for companies to explain what they do with the money they make. They are increasingly being held accountable for how they make it Risk management Governance in PPP and PFI projects H K Yong Business

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Monday 14 December 2009
Financial Daily

NAfMA PM satisfied with results of N-KRAs Yong Min Wei Public urged to view progress and give feedback on overall lab results NKRA Risk management: Panacea or placebo? Khairul Azwa Kamalul Bahrin For the last two decades or so risk management has been the buzzword, the panacea, cure-all and end-all of all our financial market woes.

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In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98, financial institutions and corporations spurred on by international agencies and their national regulators have been rushing to implement risk management in their respective organisations. All of them, in one way or another, can pinpoint a turning point or eureka moment when risk management suddenly became an essential must-have component of their organisation. Risk management

The Star Finance, crisis, recovery and reform In an interview with StarBiz, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, now serving as United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, addresses issues with regard to the world economy and the way forward
Full Article: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/14/business/5295587&sec=busin ess

Economy MSWG AGM/EGM weekly watch Dec 14-18 MSWG

The Sun Marrying social media with marketing Social media will be one of the most important issues in the marketing and branding arena next year, said industry experts at the recent Marketing Chapter: Advertising Outlook in 2010 forum. Although offline and traditional media will continue to play an important role, digital media is gaining momentum. "You cant call it new media any more, because its not new any more," said Integricity Corporation Sdn Bhd digital strategy director Ben Israel. "In 2009, everyone is online. Its not just the young people any more. You cant say its just the kids who are online any more," said Israel. People n Rich-H Sdn Bhd managing director Marilyn Teoh said the company has started moving into social media.

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"We have started to monitor social media, what it says about our clients and their brands. After listening to them (consumers), we start a conversation with them to build a relationship with them," she said. Since the rise of social media, many advertisers have jumped onto the bandwagon for example, by paying bloggers to write advertorials or sponsoring products for them to review simply because research says "word of mouth" is the most trusted medium. Marketing Public can view NKRAs NKRA

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Saturday 12 December 2009
The Star Star Special ACCA special ACCA

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Friday 11 December 2009
Financial Daily OC Phang and 2 others charged Chua Sue-Ann Klang: The prosecution dragnet over the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal started earlier today, with former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka OC Phang hauled to court to face three counts of criminal breach of trust. Two others were slapped with multiple charges for allegedly cheating PKA of millions of ringgit. Phang pleaded not guilty and claimed trial when charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust for funds totalling RM254.8 million entrusted to her between October 2004 and May 2006. Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad had recommended bail for Phang and the two others be set at RM1 million so as to reflect the seriousness of the charges. In arguing for a lesser bail to be imposed, Phang's counsel Francis Ng Aik Guan said the bail amount should not be punitive and pointed out that Phang had been a civil servant, seconded to PKA from the Transport Ministry, earning a monthly salary of about RM8,000. PKFZ

The Star Bursa to de-list Idaman Unggul Petaling Jaya: Bursa Malaysia has decided to disallow Idaman Unggul Bhds appeal and will de-list the securities of the company after due consideration of all the facts and circumstances of the matter. In a statement yesterday, it said the securities of Idaman will be removed from the Official List of Bursa on Dec 23 and Idaman was required to communicate Bursas decision to its shareholders. Upon its de-listing, Idaman would continue to exist but as an unlisted entity. Idaman would still able to continue its operations and business and proceed with its corporate restructuring and the shareholders could still be rewarded by the companys performance. However, the shareholders would be holding shares which were no longer quoted and traded on Bursa. Bursa

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GM among trio charged with RM380m CBT Phang among trio charged with RM380mil fraud in PKFZ scandal case Reports By Wani Muthiah, Lisa Goh, Edward Rajendra, Mazwin Nik Anis And Lourdes Charles Klang: Former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang and two others became the first people to be charged for offences linked to the financial fiasco of the Port Klang Free Zone. They were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating amounting to about RM380mil at the Sessions Court here. The two were Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Stephen Abok and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect. Kuala Dimensi is the turnkey contractor for the PKFZ project while BTA Architect is the project consultant. All three pleaded not guilty.
Full Article: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/11/nation/5285995&sec=nation

PKFZ

PKFZ

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Role of the board in talent management

Previously, I have discussed succession planning in terms of leadership and differentiated between three types of leaders: captains, navigators and shipbuilders. Effective succession planning is a key part of business strategy because it reduces the risk of disruption and loss of momentum when senior people leave the organisation. However, succession planning cannot be done in isolation; it must be part of the talent management process which creates and continuously fills a pipeline of people whose skills and personal qualities are critical to the success of the company at all levels, and not just the most senior positions. Although operational responsibility for effective talent management sits with the CEO and management, this does not mean that board members are not involved. It is the responsibility of the board to ensure the right talent strategy is in place one which recognises that the unique portfolio of talents needed for the organisation to thrive will change over time.
Full Article: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/11/business/5278958&sec=busin ess

Leadership, management Public Bank, Bursa Malaysia win excellence award Danny Yap Kuala Lumpur: The Overall Excellence Award under the Malaysian Corporate Governance (MCG) Index 2009 went to Public Bank Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd. The Distinction Award was clinched by nine companies: Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Media Prima Bhd, PLUS Expressways Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd. Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said he was surprised to get the award.
Full Article: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/11/business/5283355&sec=busin ess

Award, Corporate Governance

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NST Malaysian Corporate Governance Index 2009 Media Prima walks away with two awards Azlan Abu Bakar Malaysia's biggest media group Media Prima Bhd has bagged two awards for "Distinction" and "Best Mid-Capitalisation Company" at the inaugural Malaysian Corporate Governance Index 2009 (MCG) event in Kuala Lumpur last night. Another company that won the award for "Distinction" was Naim Holdings Bhd. Organised by the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG), the award ceremony was held with the aim to promote best practices in corporate governance among top 100 public listed companies in the country. MSWG chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali said it conducted surveys on 899 public-listed companies under the MCG Index 2009, where 60.7 per cent had achieved corporate governance score of more than 50 per cent "This is an improvement over the last few years, which reflected positive efforts and commitment to improve corporate governance best practices," he said.
Full Article: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/award10/Article/

Award, Corporate Governance Carry out proper due diligence before investing, public advised Azlan Abu Bakar "Investors need to carry out proper due diligence and seek advice before making any investments in interest schemes offered by any company," Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) senior director of enforcement Muhammad Redzuan Abdullah said. He said of late, a number of cases involving dubious interest schemes have been reported following queries received from people that companies were offering illegal investment schemes to members of the public. "The scenario continues to occur as investors fail to understand all the risks involved when buying or investing into the schemes," he told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur. "Get all the facts that are required and do not just depend on information from the companies offering the schemes," he added

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Muhammad Redzuan said those who want to invest should verify first the status of schemes with authorities like SSM to find out whether it is legal or otherwise.
Full Article: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/assm10/Article/

SSM, Due diligence, Investment Be audited or be sued, unaudited magazines told Koi Kye Lee Petaling Jaya: The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) is giving unaudited publications until the end of February next year to undergo an audit to substantiate their claimed revenues. Class action would be taken against them if they failed to do so. Chairman Datuk Vincent Lee said ABC had been in discussions with a solicitor on taking action against a few selected unaudited publications with high advertising revenues. The move is being carried out on behalf of industry players, namely the advertisers and media buyers.
Full Article: http://www.nst.com.my/articles/12labc/Article/index_html

Audit GST - main compliance requirements Chew Theam Hockand Tan Eng Yew Based on recent announcements, the Government has indicated that it plans to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective from the last quarter of 2011. The GST, at an indicative rate of 4 per cent, is set to replace the current sales tax and service tax regime. The introduction of GST will require businesses to comply with various requirements under the GST laws and regulations. This article sets out some of the main requirements as we move towards the GST implementation date.
Full Article: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/gistax/Article/

GST, Tax

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Thursday 10 December 2009
Utusan Malaysia Skim kepentingan awasi syarikat, perniagaan yang ambil peluang Rosmawati Meon SSM

The Sun Helping reverse global warming Comment by Dr Helmy Haja Mydin The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was organised on the background of the growing international acceptance that the environmental changes that modern society is witnessing is iatrogenic in nature and that corrective mechanisms should be put in place to reverse the trend of a gradually warming planet. However, the fact that climate change is also a public health issue is not at the foremost of the public consciousness despite the fact that our health can be affected by climate change through a number of ways: Decrease in resources The gradual decline in fresh water and arable land will be causes of insufficient potable water and malnutrition. The demand for such resources in an atmosphere of dwindling supply will also lead to the inexorable increase in levels of poverty, arguably the most important factor in public health. Spread of infectious diseases The change in mean temperature brings about subtle changes to an ecosystems plants and more importantly, its animals. Effects tend to include changes in range and seasonality of outbreaks. This is of a particular importance with regards to insect vectors especially mosquitoes and flies, who are together, the most dangerous animals known to man. Natural disasters People can be more directly affected by floods and famine; not only do such events predispose entire societies to diseases such as cholera and dehydration from heat waves, but entire working populations can be wiped out with the end result of psychosocial displacement that lead to further increase in healthcare inequalities and a decline in national economic growth.

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Just as importantly, the factors that are said to contribute to global climate change can have just as devastating an impact on our personal health. This includes the increased rates of asthma exacerbation from air pollution and the growing epidemic of diabetes and coronary heart disease from our penchant to indulge in a meat-centred Western diet. It is perhaps a relief then that mitigating climate change has the added effect of improving our health. In fact, the benefits can be more readily apparent when applied to our individual well-being as opposed to that of the planet. There are many things that we can do on a personal level. These activities do not need to be at the cutting edge of science, but rather more pragmatic day-to-day behavioural changes. These would include less aversion for the use of public transport, a reduction in the quantity of meat that we consume and decreasing the tendency to overuse air-conditioners. There are plenty of resources, especially over the internet, from which one is able to reach for a comprehensive list of advice. The federal and state governments should also be more discriminating when taking up their roles in these matters. From a healthcare point of view, appropriate resources should be allocated or obtained to serve areas that are most in need of assistance. It is a known contradiction that those who need the most healthcare input tend to be those who have the least access to it. Plans should already be in place to ensure that our healthcare system is able to cope with any surge in capacity, and that we have improved surveillance mechanisms to detect changes in disease progression. It would also be useful to invest in training the workforce and encouraging further promotion of public health issues, as at the end of the day, changes will only be able to be implemented if there is sufficient public education and awareness. More generically, policies can be implemented to help limit the effects of climate change as well as its detrimental effects on our health. These would include tax breaks for green entrepreneurship, promoting competition to boost the anaemic state of our public transport system and even gradually decreasing the subsidy that is given for fuel consumption. The caveat is that these policies will need to be introduced in a step-wise and practical fashion; we will need to prevent the introduction of negative health effects such as exposure to traffic danger when crossing the road to the nearest LRT station. Change is never easy and politicians might be reluctant to introduce changes that might displease the rakyat.

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Unfortunately, we will all have to bite the bullet soon, and make the conscious decision to take steps to improve not only the state of our health, but the fragile state of our planet. It would be interesting to note the outcome of the meeting in Copenhagen, which Lord Stern (who released an economic report of climate change for the UK government) has described as the most important since the end of the Second World War, but at the end of the day we should take individual responsibility for our actions and not leave it to the state
The writer is a health-care fellow at The Malaysia Think Tank. Comments: letters@ thesundaily.com

Global Warming SSM offers 10% discount on licences for three months Giam Say Khoon George Town: Businessmen who have yet to register or renew their licences with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) will enjoy a 10% discount if they do so within three months from now. SSM deputy chief executive officer Rokiah Mohd Noor (operations) yesterday announced that with the discount the fee for renewing the fiveyear licences will be RM30 cheaper at RM270. Any business that makes profit must be registered with SSM under the Registration of Businesses Act 1956 and the Companies Act 1965. Failure to comply with the requirement constitutes an offence under Section 12(1)(a) of the Registration of Businesses Act 1956, which carries punishment of a fine of not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years, she said at the launch of a business registration service counter with the collaboration of Penang Chinese Town Hall (PCTH) here yesterday. Rokiah said local authorities now require all businessmen, especially peddlers, who apply for business permits to also register with the commission because there are still many people doing business without licences issued by SSM. She also urged businessmen to use the e-info services and e-lodgement to get information about SSM as well as register for licences online. Rokiah said although it was the first time for SSM to cooperate with the PCTH by setting up the business registration service counter, the SSM outreach programme has been around since 2007 to educate the public and raise the awareness on the importance of registering their businesses. PCTH deputy chairman Datuk Lam Wu Chang urged the business community in George Town to take advantage of the counter set up at the PCTH.

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Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)

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