The repealed Companies Act 1965 ('CA1965') conferred the Minister of Finance ('Minister') with the responsibility to approve a person to be an approved company auditor to carry out the duties as a company auditor under CA1965 (section 8(2), CA1965) and to approve an approved company auditor who has the relevant experience and capacity to be an approved liquidator (section 8(3), CA1965).

The Companies Act 2016 ('CA2016') has separated the requirements for an approved company auditor from the requirements for an approved liquidator and no longer requires a person to be an approved company auditor in order to be an approved liquidator. The power to approve a person as an approved company auditor and an approved liquidator are vested in the Minister and are set out in sections 263 and 433 respectively of CA2016. The Minister has delegated his responsibility to process and approve applications to be an approved company auditor and an approved liquidator to the Accountant General's Department of Malaysia ('Accountant General') by letters dated 28 April 2017 and 5 December 2019 respectively.

In relation to approved liquidators, the Accountant General has issued the Guidelines for Approval of Liquidator under the Companies Act 2016 with effect from 21 January 2020 and the Companies Commission of Malaysia has issued the Guidance Notes on the Registration of Firms of Liquidators and Notification on the Approval as an Approved Liquidator (Circular No. 1/2020) on 24 January 2020. These resources can be accessed through the following links –

The website of the Accountant General's Department also includes supplemental documents relating to the application for and renewal of approval of an approved liquidator.

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