Anti-bribery system to manage risks

AT long last, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (Amend­ment) Bill 2018 has been passed at the first meeting of the sixth session of the 13th Parliament and subsequently by the Dewan Negara on April 4, 2018.

The main thrust of the Bill was the introduction of Section 17A “Offence by Commercial Orga­nization” into the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act 2009). Section 17A states that a commercial organisation commits an offence if a person associated with the commercial organisation corruptly “gives, agrees to give, promises or offers to any person” any gratification. The gratification can be either for the “benefit of that person or another person” with intent to “obtain or retain business for the commercial organization” or “to obtain or retain an advantage in the conduct of business for the commercial organization”.