New law to hold CEOs liable for corruption

A proposed amendment to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) aims to ensure corporate enterprises are corruption-free.

The corporate liability provision being proposed would enable CEOs and company owners to be help accountable for bribes or violations by employees.

This means corporate entities would be obliged to put in place effective anti-graft policies or systems if the proposal becomes law, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, said at a briefing this week.

“Today, only the employees are liable, so we want to connect it to the corporate sector," he told reporters after the briefing, Bernama reported.

He said the amendment to the MACC Act 2009 is expected to be tabled by June this year at the latest.

He added a grace period would likely be given to companies to comply with any new provisions.