Company law is outlined in the Malaysian Companies Act 1965 and Malaysia business set up is controlled by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM). The CCM handles Malaysia business set up applications, administers companies and deals with corporate compliance and disclosure requirements. Following Malaysia business set up, the CCM monitors and regulates statutory audits by public accountants. Furthermore, after Malaysia business set up corporate details (such as shareholder and director details) are available through the CCM. The government fee to register a private limited company varies from US$300 to US$21,000, depending on authorised and issued share capital of the company.

In accordance with the Malaysian Companies Act 1965, each company is required to fulfill the following Malaysia business set up requirements:

i) appoint at least two shareholders. Both local and international, corporate and individual shareholders are allowed;

ii) appoint at least two local resident directors. Thereafter, an unlimited number of local and international directors may be appointed. However, only individual directors are allowed - corporate directors are not;

iii) appoint a local, resident company secretary and registered office. Only individual company secretaries are allowed;

iv) have a minimum share capital of RM$2; and

v) appoint an approved auditor in Malaysia and submit audited financial statements and an annual corporate tax return to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia.