Bank Negara Malaysia is empowered pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 [Act 613] (the ‘AMLA’) to implement measures in Malaysia to detect, prevent and curb money laundering activities.  Bank Negara intends to extend the application of various provisions in the AMLA to specific categories of professionals and service providers including accountants who are members of the Institute. These provisions in the AMLA relate to the reporting of cash transactions exceeding a specified threshold (section 14(a) of the AMLA) and reporting of suspicious transactions (section 14(b) of the AMLA), as well as record keeping and customer due diligence (sections 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the AMLA).

The Institute is in close consultation with Bank Negara as to the scope and extent of Bank Negara’s proposed implementation of the above provisions in respect of the accountancy profession. In the course of this consultation, the Institute has submitted its Memorandum to Bank Negara dated 5 December 2003. In this Memorandum, the Institute has made various recommendations on the scope and extent of implementation of the anti-money laundering obligations to accountants with the aim of safeguarding the interests of the members of the Institute whilst at the same time, meeting the objectives of the AMLA.

Although initially looking at an implementation date of 15 January 2004 for the reporting of cash transactions exceeding a specified threshold, subsequent to receiving the Institute’s Memorandum, Bank Negara has indicated that it will defer the implementation of this requirement to a later date. Bank Negara is instead looking at the implementation of the requirement to report suspicious transactions, sometime next year.

The Institute will keep members informed of any further developments. The Institute welcomes any feedback on the above matter from members, who can e-mail their feedback to regulatory@mia.org.my.

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