RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 7) Declarations, Not Land: Semantan Estate And The Federal Court’s Hard Line On Remedies Against Government by Kavin Raaj

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 6) AI and Authorship at the Edge: What Malaysia’s Next IP Frontier Looks Like by Michael Soo & Matthew Ho

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 5) Understanding The Detik Ria Decision: The Intersection Of Conditional Contracts And Regulatory Approvals by Shera Chuah

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 4) Private Caveats: Form 19B With Big Consequences by Khoo Jia Hui

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 3) From Berjaya Times Square to Lim Swee Choo: Revisiting the Total Failure of Consideration Doctrine by Nishooldran Ravindran

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 2) Reassessing Liquidators’ Powers, Rights, and Liabilities After The Victor Saw Seng Kee Case by Tan Jun Yu

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 1) Stamp Duty On Novation Agreement: Analysis Of The Mesra Retail Case by S. Saravana Kumar & Nur Hanina Mohd Azham

RDS is pleased to publish RDS Legal Insight Q4 of 2025. This quarterly magazine features the following articles by our colleagues: 1) Stamp Duty On Novation Agreement: Analysis Of The Mesra Retail Case by S. Saravana Kumar & Nur Hanina Mohd Azham 2) Reassessing Liquidators’ Powers, Rights, and Liabilities After The Victor Saw Seng Kee Case by Tan Jun Yu 3) From Berjaya Times Square to Lim Swee Choo: Revisiting the Total Failure of Consideration Doctrine by Nishooldran Ravi

Malaysia will introduce sweeping reforms to its stamp duty framework from 1 January 2026, marking a decisive shift towards self-assessment and tougher enforcement as part of broader tax administration reforms.   The changes, enacted under the Finance Act 2025 and the Measures for the Collection, Administration and Enforcement of Tax Act 2025, amend the Stamp Act 1949 and significantly alter how stamp duty is assessed, paid and enforced.   Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System (SD

In a decision with important implications for energy and infrastructure projects, the High Court has ruled in favour of a taxpayer on a series of substantive tax issues, including the characterisation of income, the deductibility of Sukuk financing costs and the binding effect of public rulings issued under Section 138A of the Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA).   The judgment also places clear limits on the Revenue’s ability to make adjustments in the absence of statutory authority.

The Court of Appeal delivered a significant ruling on the tax treatment of intercompany loan waivers, determining that forgiven debts are not taxable where the borrower has not previously claimed a deduction for the liability. The decision in Multi-Purpose Credit Sdn Bhd v Ketua Pengarah Hasil Dalam Negeri  [2025] CLJU 2453 is expected to have wide implications for group financing structures and balance-sheet clean ups across corporate Malaysia. The unanimous judgment turns o

The recent decision of the High Court in Asia Media Sdn Bhd (In Liquidation) (Post Winding Up Application No. WA-28PW-356-06/2024) offers a timely reminder of where real power lies when a company enters liquidation. The ruling clarifies the weight to be given to creditors’ preferences in the appointment of private liquidators under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2016, a provision that has long left room for discretion and dispute. The dispute in Asia Media  was, on its face

In a recent decision (Award No. 1692 of 2025), the Industrial Court dismissed the unfair-dismissal claim brought by Vikram Singh a/l Muniandy (the Claimant), who is the Head of Aviation Security at the Pos Malaysia International Hub (PMIH), The court upheld Pos Malaysia Berhad’s (the Company) decision to terminate his employment. The Company was represented by the firm’s Senior Associate, Muhamad Sharunizam bin Mohd Roni. A Case Rooted In Governance Failures The dispute began

In a commercial landscape where contracts often multiply and overlap, particularly in engineering, energy and infrastructure projects, clarity is a rare commodity. Arbitration clauses, in particular, have long been a breeding ground for dispute: when parties sign several interlinked agreements, which documents actually bind them to arbitrate? The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in MTC Engineering Sdn Bhd v VME Process Asia Pacific Pte Ltd [2025] MLJU 3634 offers a sharp ans

Malaysia’s long-running tensions over short-term rental (STR) activity in strata developments have taken a significant turn, following a Court of Appeal ruling that clarifies the limits of management corporations’ powers and the status of private covenants seeking to restrict such use. The decision in Wawasan Raya Sdn Bhd v MARC Service Residence Management Corporation   [ 2025] 4 MLRA 1 provides some of the clearest judicial guidance yet in a sector where rapid growth of pla

Malaysia is preparing for a significant shift in its patent regime, with major reforms under the Patents (Amendment) Act 2022 and related regulations set to take effect on 31 December 2025. A notice issued by the Registrar of Patents on 10 October 2025 (Notice 1/2025) confirms that several long-anticipated provisions together with new subsidiary legislation will finally be enforced, ushering in a more transparent and adversarial patent framework. The changes carry wide-rangin

Intellectual property typically evokes familiar categories such as trademarks, patents or copyrights. Yet an increasingly important form of protection, particularly for food, agriculture and heritage-linked goods, is the geographical indication (GI). GIs certify that a product’s qualities, characteristics or reputation are intrinsically tied to a specific place of origin. The updated Geographical Indications Act 2022 (GIA 2022), which came into force on 18 March 2022, marks t

The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Bukit Tinggi Hospital Sdn Bhd & Anor v Navin Sharma A/L Karam Chand & Anor [2025] MLJU 3236 marks a notable shift in the Malaysian judiciary’s approach to the assessment of damages in medical negligence cases. At a time when both the volume of claims and the amount of awards are rising, the judgment signals a more restrained, evidence-driven methodology particularly in relation to dependency claims, awards for pain and suffering and lo

Lawyers are often fond of ending correspondence with the now-habitual phrase: “All of our client’s rights are reserved.” Much like the delicate tulip atop a barista’s latte, it is as much form as function, so familiar, it can feel like mere legal decoration. But recent jurisprudence suggests that this time-worn phrase might carry more weight than previously thought. A Legal Reminder From The Court Of Appeal In Esa Jurutera Perunding Sdn Bhd v Universiti Malaya [2025] 2 MLJ 61

In a landmark move, Malaysia has amended its Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, effective July 2025, to criminalise all forms of...