The repealed Companies Act 1965 ('CA1965') conferred the
Minister of Finance ('Minister') with the responsibility to
approve a person to be an approved company auditor to carry out the
duties as a company auditor under CA1965 (section 8(2), CA1965) and
to approve an approved company auditor who has the relevant
experience and capacity to be an approved liquidator (section 8(3),
CA1965).
The Companies Act 2016 ('CA2016') has separated the
requirements for an approved company auditor from the requirements
for an approved liquidator and no longer requires a person to be an
approved company auditor in order to be an approved liquidator. The
power to approve a person as an approved company auditor and an
approved liquidator are vested in the Minister and are set out in
sections 263 and 433 respectively of CA2016. The Minister has
delegated his responsibility to process and approve applications to
be an approved company auditor and an approved liquidator to the
Accountant General's Department of Malaysia ('Accountant
General') by letters dated 28 April 2017 and 5 December 2019
respectively.
In relation to approved liquidators, the Accountant General has
issued the Guidelines for Approval of Liquidator under the
Companies Act 2016 with effect from 21 January 2020 and the
Companies Commission of Malaysia has issued the Guidance Notes on
the Registration of Firms of Liquidators and Notification on the
Approval as an Approved Liquidator (Circular No. 1/2020) on 24
January 2020. These resources can be accessed through the following
links –
The website of the
Accountant General's Department also includes supplemental
documents relating to the application for and renewal of approval
of an approved liquidator.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.