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ALLEGATIONS against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki seems to have been formally cleared of any breach of the so-called “RM100,000 shareholding rule” following an official clarification on the intended scope and application of the administrative guideline.
A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) revealed authorities emphasising that the threshold in question is not a statutory prohibition, but an internal administrative measure designed to manage risk and prevent conflicts of interest within the public service.
It’s purpose is to mitigate risk exposure and prevent conflicts of interest rather than criminalise legitimate investment activity by public servants.
The SSM reports were pertinent to allegations levied by a foreign business media company against Azam Baki citing that he was listed as holding 17.7 million shares in Velocity Capital Bhd, based solely on a corporate filing recently.
The reports revealed that there is a crucial distinction between private and public companies.
The guideline is explicitly directed at shareholdings in private limited companies, where ownership structures are often opaque, transfers occur privately, valuations are subjective, and beneficial interests may be concealed.
These features justify stricter administrative oversight. Public listed companies, by contrast, operate within regulated, transparent markets. Transactions are fully traceable via Central Depository System accounts, and share prices are publicly verifiable.
It can be deemed that applying the “RM100,000 guideline” mechanically to such investments would defeat its purpose and add no governance value.
The check also addressed the interpretation of the guideline’s phrasing.
The term “whichever is lower” functions as an administrative control, regulating holdings within a formal declaration framework rather than imposing an automatic prohibition.
The measure is intended to govern overall ownership, not individual transactions, allowing for temporary fluctuations above the threshold provided that declaration, supervision, and, where necessary, direction or disposal are properly followed.
In Azam Baki’s case, it can be interpreted that the shares in question were held in a publicly listed company through regulated channels.
It was learnt that the stake amounted to approximately 1.35 per cent, well below the five per cent threshold of paid-up capital.
Corporate records confirm that Velocity Capital Partner Berhad, the company in which the shares are held, is a public limited company with fully audited and transparent shareholding.
All transactions are traceable and subject to continuous oversight by Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia.
The reports show that the controversy may have arisen from a misunderstanding of both the policy’s intent and its proper administrative application.
This is possibly based on the guideline being intended to regulate opaque private equity involvement, not transparent, regulated investments in publicly listed companies.
Applied correctly, it does not prohibit such holdings and does not apply to the present case, as it may be construed.
This outcome demonstrates the importance of understanding the regulatory framework and distinguishing between private and public equity exposure in matters concerning public officers, underlining the need for clarity in public discourse on governance and compliance - February 12, 2026