Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan Salam Sejahtera 

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Ali Abdul Kadir

Board Member of LOFSA 

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Azmi bin Ariffin

Chief Executive Officer, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM)

Distinguished Guests 

Ladies & Gentlemen, 

First of all, it is with great pleasure and honour that I welcome all of you to this important and auspicious occasion to witness the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Co-operation and Mutual Assistance between LOFSA and Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). My special thank to Datuk Ali for making time to be with us today. We highly appreciate his support and his willingness to come to Labuan again since the last time he was here last month. I also wish to welcome the delegation from SSM for being here today. I hope you have enjoyed the hospitality of Labuan so far and have a wonderful time on this beautiful Island. LOFSA is indeed delighted to see many of the management team members of SSM who have taken time to come to Labuan, especially to Dato Azmi bin Ariffin.

This shows the support and commitment of SSM’s Management to bring the cooperation between our organizations to the next level.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The signing of the MOU is an important step forward for LOFSA and SSM. It is a testimony of close cooperation between the two government agencies. This is the second MOU that LOFSA has signed with domestic regulatory authority after the Securities Commission in 2003. LOFSA always considered SSM as an important stakeholder and this is reflected in the appointment of the CEO of SSM or ROC then, as a Member of LOFSA’s Board since its establishment in 1996.

The contribution from SSM has been very valuable which has now transformed into today’s event. The objectives of the MOU, among others, are to further strengthen, promote, co-operate and mutually assist each other in our respective functions towards enhancing the stature of Malaysia as a preferred business destination internationally. The areas of co-operation will include enforcement, research and development, exchange of information, training and staff development as well as any other areas of mutual benefits.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Co-operation between LOFSA and SSM has gone back a long way. In several ways, the functions of LOFSA and SSM have certain similarities, especially in terms of company incorporation. This is not surprising since the then ROC regulates matters relating to company incorporations in Labuan IBFC prior to the establishment of LOFSA. In fact, the offshore company law that we have today was promulgated by SSM based on the benchmark against other offshore jurisdictions. We also used to have secondment officers from ROC in the early years of LOFSA which assisted LOFSA in the operations of the company incorporation.

Maybe it would be a good idea to continue the practice and to have staff from both LOFSA and SSM for attachment in our respective organisation so that we would have better understanding of each others’ operations. The understanding would definitely facilitate any future co-operations that we might have.

The event today is also a result of one of the initiatives recommended in our repositioning study conducted in 2007, which is to further strengthen the cooperation between LOFSA and its stakeholders. It is in line with the announcement of the liberalisation of the financial sector by our Yang Amat Berhormat Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abd Razak in April this year.

The liberalisation measures are aimed at enhancing our international economic and financial inter-linkages and to strengthen Malaysia’s financial services sector as a catalyst that will take the country to the next level of development. Apart from the domestic sector, liberalization for Labuan IBFC was also announced which include Labuan companies, banking and insurance sectors. The details for the liberalization for Labuan IBFC will be announced in the near future.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We believe that Labuan IBFC is moving in the right direction to be the preferred financial centre by remaining focused on quality and regarded as a high-end jurisdiction.

We will continue to work in harmony with other important stakeholders including the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia, Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia and the Labuan Corporation, to name a few. At the same time, LOFSA will also continue to strengthen and enhance the supporting and enabling business environment to remain a viable option to potential investors.

On that note, I wish to again thank Datuk Ali for taking time to be here, to SSM’s delegation, for the excellent co-operation given to LOFSA and last but not least, to all of you for being here this morning to witness the signing of the MOU.

 

Thank you.

Wassalaamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.