Who must comply with Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965? Which companies or societies come under the Act by depositing funds with the Government?

Under the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965, the following entities must comply with the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965 by remitting the unclaimed moneys to the Government for safekeeping of the money for the rightful owners:

• Companies including foreign companies incorporated under the Companies Act 1965 (Act 125);


• Any Board established to manage employees provident fund superannuation schemes or any other fund relating to retirement benefits;


• All societies and co-operatives societies registered under any written law relating to societies or to co-operative societies;


• All corporations, public authorities and trade unions; and


• Unincorporated body of persons (whether consisting of individuals or of corporations or partly of individuals and partly of corporations) associated together for the purpose of carrying on business.

Every entity holding unclaimed moneys shall maintain a record of all unclaimed moneys in a register to be kept at its principal office or place of business in Malaysia and be reported in Form UMA-3.

The following particulars are required:

1. The name of the owner of the unclaimed money;


2. Identity card number or company or business registration number; and


3. The amount of unclaimed money owed.

Every entity shall annually, not later than March 31, submit to the Registrar a copy of Form UMA-3, which shall contain particulars of all unclaimed moneys that have remained unpaid from January 1 to December 31 of the previous year together with all the unclaimed moneys reported in the form.

Entities are required to make out four (4) copies of the UMA-3 Form:

1. Original copy to be lodged with the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys together with the soft copy as per Lampiran A;


2. Second and third copies to be sent to Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad to be Gazetted; and


3. Fourth copy to be retained by the entity for its own records.

The entity must also prepare three (3) copies of Form UMA-4, the remittance form. One copy to be retained by the entity for reference purpose. Two copies of Form UMA-4 are then submitted to the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys, together with Form UMA-3 and a cheque for the relevant amount. Cheque for payment of unclaimed moneys should be made out in favour of Jabatan Akauntan Negara Malaysia.

An entity that fails to comply with the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965 shall be guilty of an offence and the entity and every officer of the entity who is in default shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding RM20,000 and shall, in the case of a continuing offence, be liable to a further fine not exceeding RM1,000 for each day during which the offence continues.

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