The Registrar of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (‘Registrar’) issued a new set of Guidelines on Company Names on 6 December 2022 (‘December 2022 Guidelines’).
 
The December 2022 Guidelines supersede the Guidelines on Company Names issued by the Registrar on 5 October 2022 (‘October 2022 Guidelines’) which superseded the Guidelines on Company Names issued on 15 March 2022 (‘March 2022 Guidelines’). The March 2022 Guidelines in turn, superseded the previous corresponding guidelines issued by the Registrar on 31 January 2017 (‘January 2017 Guidelines’) when the Companies Act 2016 (‘CA 2016’) came into operation.
 
Overall, there is only one notable change made to the October 2022 Guidelines under the December 2022 Guidelines as summarised below.
 
Company that has been struck off or wound up and limited liability partnership that has been dissolved
 
Paragraph 11(i) of the December 2022 Guidelines provides as follows: 

Paragraph 11(i) of the December 2022 Guidelines is substantively similar to paragraph 11(i) of the October 2022 Guidelines, save that the former now permits the use of the name of a company that has been dissolved by court order/ voluntary winding up two years (instead of the previous seven years) after the dissolution of the company under section 535(1) of the CA 2016.
 
Comments
 
This is the third time in 2022 that the Registrar has revised the Guidelines on Company Names. The changes made under the December 2022 Guidelines are less extensive than the changes made under the October 2022 Guidelines and the March 2022 Guidelines but are nevertheless welcomed as the December 2022 Guidelines distinguish and provide for a shorter moratorium period for the reuse of the name of a company that has been dissolved by court order/ voluntary winding up.
 
Our summary of the key changes under the October 2022 Guidelines and the March 2022 Guidelines can be accessed here and here.
 
Article by Tan Wei Liang (Senior Associate) and Vanessa Ho (Associate) of the Corporate Practice of Skrine.