(TAX UPDATE) An RM50,000 Lesson on AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act) And Why We Keep Asking You to Sign AMLA documents

(TAX UPDATE) An RM50,000 Lesson on AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act) And Why We Keep Asking You to Sign AMLA documents

Introduction

A company secretary in Kuala Lumpur was fined RM50,000 last month.

She did not steal money. She did not run away with client funds. She did one thing wrong, and one thing only.

She did not flag two suspicious transactions to Bank Negara Malaysia.

That is it.

The Case

On 15 April 2026, Ardzlyn Hawatul Yuhanis Uyob@Ayob pleaded guilty at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court. Four charges in total.

Two charges under Section 86 of AMLA 2001 for failing to submit Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to BNM. The transactions involved foreign nationals using two Malaysian companies, MB International Sdn Bhd and Ascent GT Sdn Bhd.

Two charges under Section 593(b) of the Companies Act 2016 for filing false information with SSM on the appointment of a foreign director.

The damage to her:

  • RM50,000 fine

  • Practising certificate revoked by SSM

  • Six months jail per charge if she had defaulted on the fines

  • Career finished.

The investigation was a joint effort by BNM and SSM. She was not the mastermind. She was the gatekeeper who looked the other way.

This Is Not Just A Company Secretary Problem

You are reading this and thinking, "I am an SME owner. I use KTP for audit and tax. Why is this relevant to me?"

Fair question. Here is the answer.

Under AMLA 2001, accountants, auditors, tax agents, and company secretaries are all classified as Reporting Institutions, or RIs, under the category of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs). We, auditor and tax agent, do not normally become a Reporting Institution on every job. AMLA invokes our Part IV obligations when we carry out one or more of these "gazetted activities" for you:

  1. Managing client money, securities, or other assets

  2. Organising contributions for the creation, operation, or management of companies

  3. Buying and selling real estate

  4. Creating, operating, or managing legal entities, including acting as a formation agent

  5. Acting as a nominee director or providing similar services

In short, the moment we touch your money, your shares, your property, or your company structure, the AMLA clock starts ticking on us.

A pure statutory audit on its own may not invoke these obligations. But the moment KTP also handles your tax, secretarial, accounting, or advisory work, which is what most of you engage us for, the AMLA reporting duties apply.

Since 30 December 2021, BNM expanded the AMLA reporting obligations to cover firms, not just individual professionals. Effective 1 January 2026, SSM also made AMLA training mandatory for company secretaries. The regulator is closing the gaps.

So when KTP audits your accounts or prepares your tax return, we are not just your auditor or tax agent. We are also a reporting institution under AMLA. Same obligations. Same penalties.

STR and CTR. What We Have to Watch

Two latest updates you should know.

STR. Suspicious Transaction Report.

If we have any reason to suspect a transaction, completed or even just attempted, involves proceeds from unlawful activity or is linked to terrorism financing, we must submit an STR to BNM. By law, we cannot tip you off, and we cannot delay.

The Compliance Officer must file by the next working day from the moment suspicion is established.

CTR. Cash Threshold Report.

The CTR threshold is RM25,000 and above per day. Currently this obligation is invoked only on banks, selected development financial institutions, Lembaga Tabung Haji, and the licensed casino.

As accountants, tax agents, and company secretaries, we are not yet required to submit CTRs. That said, BNM has signalled that this obligation may be invoked on DNFBPs in future. So we already track large cash flows, both to inform our STR judgment and to prepare for the day the rule extends to us.

The signal to you is simple. Cash is watched. Even if KTP is not the one filing a CTR, your bank already is.

Secrecy Will Not Save You

This part surprises most SME owners.

Section 20 of AMLA overrides any professional secrecy or confidentiality obligation. It overrides the duty of confidence we owe you under common law. It overrides the confidentiality clause in our engagement letter. It even overrides the auditor's duty of confidentiality under the Companies Act.

Read that again. AMLA wins.

If we form a suspicion, we report. If we do not report, we go to court. There is no "but we have a confidentiality clause" defence.

Section 24 of AMLA also protects us from any civil, criminal, or disciplinary action when we report in good faith. So the law does not just allow the report. It actively shields us when we make one.

This is not a grey area. It is black and white.

Why So Many Signatures

This is where it ties back to you, the SME client.

Every time you onboard with KTP, every time we update your file, every time you bring us a new transaction or a new shareholder or a new director, we ask you to sign something.

Engagement letter. CDD form. Beneficial owner declaration. Source of funds declaration. PEP declaration. Director particulars. Sometimes the same information twice on different forms.

We know it is annoying. Our staff know it is annoying. We have heard the "aiyoh, again ah?" many times.

Here is the truth.

Those signatures are not for you. They are not even for us. They are for the regulator who may one day ask, "Did you do your job as a Reporting Institution?"

If we cannot show the paper trail, we have no defence. Just like Ardzlyn had no defence.

What We Are Actually Looking At

When we ask for these documents, we are checking for things like:

  • Sudden cash injections that do not match the business profile

  • Foreign directors with no clear link to the business

  • Transactions routed through unusual jurisdictions

  • Beneficial owners hidden behind nominee structures

  • Round-sum payments in and out for no commercial reason

  • Customers or suppliers on sanctions lists

If your business is clean, all of this is paperwork. Boring, but harmless.

If your business has a problem, this paperwork is what protects you, protects us, and protects the financial system.

What Happens If You Refuse

We have had clients push back. "Why do you need my passport again? You already have it." "Why do I need to declare source of funds for a RM200,000 capital injection from my own savings?"

The honest answer is this. If you refuse, we cannot continue the engagement. AMLA does not give us a choice. We either complete CDD, or we walk away. There is no middle ground.

This is not KTP being difficult. This is KTP staying out of court.

KTP's View

The Ardzlyn case is not unique. It is a warning shot.

BNM and SSM have signalled clearly that they will go after gatekeepers, not just the criminals using us. Company secretaries today, accountants and tax agents tomorrow.

For SME owners, the takeaway is simple. The next time KTP asks you to sign one more form, please understand we are not adding bureaucracy for fun. We are doing the job the law requires us to do, the job Ardzlyn did not do, and the job that keeps your business and ours on the right side of the regulator.

If you have questions about why a specific document is being requested, ask us. We will explain. That conversation is much easier than the one Ardzlyn had to have in court.

Sign first. Ask second. Or better, ask first, then sign. But please do not refuse.

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