Malaysia – Guidelines Relating to the Obligations of Company Secretary as a Reporting Institution Under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla) [Issue 3 Of 4]

In the regulatory framework set by SSM, there is a provision for simplification and exemption specifically for in-house company secretaries.   

Exemption/ Simplification 

Under 9.9 of the Guidelines, an Application for a Company Secretary Who is Employed by a Company to Handle Secretarial Functions of the Company/ Group of Companies 

1. A company secretary who is employed by a company to handle the secretarial functions of the company/group of companies is deemed to be responsible for the duties of the Compliance Officer. 

1. Paragraph 9.1 to 9.7 do not apply to such company secretary. However, the company secretary shall at a minimum, adopt this policy document as his policies and procedures. 

1. Notwithstanding the above, the company secretary is required to comply with the AML/CFT Compliance Programme requirements as and when specified by the BNM or SSM.  
   
   

Application Of Risk-Based Approach 

Risk Control and Mitigation 

A company secretary/secretarial firm must: 

• have policies, procedures, and controls to manage and mitigate ML/TF risks; 

• monitor their implementation; 

• take enhanced measures for higher risks specified by the BNM or SSM; and 

• conduct independent control testing.