The Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) and the Dewan Negara (Senate) of the Malaysian Parliament passed the Unclaimed Moneys (Amendment) Bill 2024 (‘the Bill’) on 26 March 2024 and 3 April 2024 respectively. The Bill will now be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for Royal Assent. Thereafter, the Bill will become law upon its being gazetted and come into operation on a date to be determined by the Minister of Finance by notification in the Gazette.
 
This article highlights the key amendments that will be made to the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965 (‘the Act’) under the Bill.
 
Definitions
 
The Bill introduces the following definitions to section 2 of the Act: 

The definitions of “prescribed” and “Registrar” are substantially similar to the corresponding definitions in section 8 of the Act which have now been relocated to section 2 and will be deleted from section 8. The definition of “unclaimed moneys” will be discussed hereafter.
 
Unclaimed moneys
 
The Bill introduces a new section 2A which defines “unclaimed moneys” as follows:
 
“2A.  Unclaimed moneys referred to in this Act shall be construed as references to all sums of moneys— The new section 2A is substantially similar to the definition of “unclaimed moneys” in section 8 of the Act except for sub-paragraph (a) of section 2A which has extended the one-year period stipulated in the definition in section 8 to two years under the new section 2A(a) in order for unpaid moneys to constitute unclaimed moneys under that paragraph.
 
Registrars, Deputy Registrars etc.
 
The new section 4A which provides for the appointment and powers of the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys (“Registrar”), Deputy Registrars of Unclaimed Moneys (“Deputy Registrar”) and Assistant Registrars of Unclaimed Moneys (“Assistant Registrar”) are identical to the provisions in section 9 of the Act which is to be deleted.
 
Moneys in Court
 
Part I (sections 5 to 7) (Moneys in Court) of the Act sets out, inter alia, the procedure for dealing with moneys that have been paid into court but remain unclaimed for 15 years. Presently the Act imposes the responsibility to pay such moneys to the Consolidated Revenue Account on the “proper officer of such court having the control or custody of money paid into court.” The Bill transfers the responsibility from the aforesaid officer to the Registrar or any Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar appointed under section 4A(2).
 
Publication of register
 
Section 10A(1) of the Act, among others, requires a company or firm holding unclaimed moneys to submit a copy of its register of unclaimed moneys to the Registrar for publication in the Gazette annually. The Bill amends this provision by replacing the publication in the Gazette with publication by way of electronic medium or electronic transmission.
 
Disposal of unclaimed moneys
 
The Registrar is required to: (a) credit all unclaimed moneys lodged with him to the Consolidated Trust Account (section 11(1)); and (b) transfer any unclaimed monies credited in the Consolidated Trust Account to the Consolidated Revenue Account upon the expiration of 15 years from the date the moneys were credited to the Consolidated Revenue Account (section 11(2)).
 
The Bill amends section 11(2) to reduce the time frame for moneys to be transferred from the Consolidated Trust Account to the Consolidated Revenue Account from 15 years to 10 years.
 
Powers to make regulations expanded
 
As the responsibility under Part I (Moneys in Court) of the Act for dealing with moneys that remain unclaimed after such monies have been paid into court will be transferred from the “proper officer of court” to the Registrar or any Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar pursuant to amendments to section 5 and 6, the power of the Minister to make regulations under section 15 of the Act has been expanded to cover matters under the Act instead of being restricted to matters under Part II (Moneys in Companies and Firms).
 
Comments
 
The four main amendments introduced under the Bill are as follows:  
Alert by Amanda Swee Lin Hollow (Associate) of the Corporate Practice of Skrine.