Cooperative Societies Act to be amended

KUALA LUMPUR: The establishment of a cooperative will only require a minimum of 20 members compared with the existing 50 following proposed amendments to the Cooperative Societies Act 1993.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the proposed amendments, apart from making it easier for the public to set up cooperatives, also contained proposals that would facilitate the administration of a cooperative.

“In the past, we needed at least 25 members to sign the minutes of the meeting. With the amendments, we propose that 10 people will be sufficient to confirm it.

“We should re-evaluate (the law), as other countries have mostly reduced the number. We need to be in tandem with other countries to facilitate the establishment of cooperatives, ” he said at the Parliament building yesterday.

Earlier, the Cooperatives (Amendment) Bill 2020 was tabled for first reading by Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin. She said the second reading of the Bill would be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Wan Junaidi added that the Bill also proposed an amendment to reduce the number of cooperative board members to three people from the existing six.

The Bill also seeks to amend paragraph 12 (b) of the Act to eliminate the requirement imposed on a cooperative to obtain written approval from the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia before it could display its name or logo at branches.

It also seeks to amend subsection 50 of the law to reduce the minimum number of members of the internal audit committee of a cooperative from three to two. — Bernama