Registrar of Companies in Malaysia – The Roles

Who is the Registrar of Companies in Malaysia?

In Malaysia, the regulating body for all legal business entities (in other words, the Registrar of Companies) is known as the Companies Commission of Malaysia. To the locals, they are more commonly known by the local Malay abbreviation of the English name, the SSM.

The SSM stands for Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia. The SSM in Malaysia was formed under an Act of Parliament, and the purpose of the SSM is to regulate the corporate and business affairs of all legal business entities that are registered in Malaysia.

Formed in 2002 under the Companies Commission of Malaysia Act 2001, the SSM took on the role and assumed the functions of the Registrar of Companies and Registry of Businesses. This statutory body was formed as a direct result of a merger between the Registrar of Companies (ROC) and the Registrar of Businesses (ROB) in Malaysia. The SSM officially began its operations on the 16th of April 2002.

What Role Does the Registrar of Companies – SSM Play?

The SSM’s main purpose in Malaysia is to serve as the agency that incorporates companies and registers the businesses that budding entrepreneurs wish to form in Malaysia. The SSM will also provide the company and business information to the public.

The SSM launched the SSM e-Info Services, a web portal which has made is easy for the public to access information on companies and businesses, as all the information is readily available online once registered with the SSM.

As the leading authority for the improvement of corporate governance in Malaysia, part of the SSM’s duties include handling the monitoring and enforcement activities that need to take place to ensure that businesses are complying with the business and corporate legislations that are in place.

In 2003, the SSM did a review of the Companies Act 1965, and the aim of this review was to simplify the process of incorporating a company in Malaysia. The review also was aimed at reducing the cost of compliance with the Malaysia corporate law for businesses.

What Acts and Regulations Are Operational Under the SSM?

The acts and regulations that fall under the operations of the SSM include the following:

The Companies Commission of Malaysia Act 2001

The Companies Act 1965

The Registration of Businesses Act 2016

The Trust Companies Act 1949

Kootu Funds (Prohibition) Act 1971

Act A1299 Companies (Amendment) Act 2007

The Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2012

The SSM is also responsible for the administration and enforcement of any subsidiary legislation that is made under the Acts specified above. These include the following two examples: