by BERNAMA / pic by BERNAMA

THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 will be amended to include a provision on beneficial ownership to ensure that the real owners of enterprises cannot escape lawsuits and enforcement action, said MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya (picture).

“The government will amend the MACC Act to allow the authorities to know who the beneficiary owners are during an investigation.

“The government saw a need for this as there had been many cases where the names of other individuals were used as ‘proxies’ in preventing the original owner from being exposed to probable action,” she said after officiating the “Regional Workshop Promoting Beneficial Ownership Transparency in South-East Asia” in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Latheefa said the full force of the law would be applied on wrongdoers to ensure that unclear or hidden beneficial ownership is not used to enable corrupt activities and criminal enterprises.

On Jan 10 this year, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would propose the inclusion of a provision in the MACC Act to show the real beneficiary owners in companies.

He said this was one of the matters decided upon at a meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee on AntiCorruption which he chaired in Putrajaya. — Bernama