8 February, 2017
The country’s bankruptcy law could see some important changes this year if the proposed amendments to the Bankruptcy Act 1967 (which is to be renamed the Insolvency Act 1967) are adopted. The Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2016, tabled for first reading in Parliament on November 21 last year, includes proposals to increase the minimum debt level to be declared a bankrupt to RM50,000.00 from RM30,000.00 currently, grant immunity to social guarantors and implement a mechanism that will allow debtors to negotiate an arrangement with their creditors before legal proceedings can be taken against them.
Our partner Donovan Cheah provided his comments to The Edge on 30 January 2017, on the proposed amendments:
"The proposed amendments, such as increasing the minimum debt threshold, will surely reduce the number of people qualified to be a bankrupt and the workload of the Department of Insolvency. However, if we are really serious about addressing the core issue behind bankruptcy, then we need to look at where there should be more initiatives on financial awareness, financial planning and legal knowledge. Finding out why people are getting into debt without the means to repay it should be the focus to make sure we are treating the problem and not just the symptom.”
The firm will link to the full article when it is available online.
For further information, please contact:
Donovan Cheah, Partner, Donovan & Ho
donovan@dnh.com.my
