THE Dewan Rakyat today passed an amendment to the Insolvency Act 1967, which is aimed at improving the administration of estates belonging to bankrupts.

The revision will also provide for a speedier process to discharge bankruptcy statuses.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the government had pushed for the amendment to the law as many people were declared bankrupt between 2019 and this year.

“The Insolvency Department reported that those from the 35-44  age group are the most affected, with 13,073 individuals declared bankrupt.

“I would like to emphasise the element of gender – there were more men declared bankrupt compared to women over the same period: 25,104 men as opposed to 8,912 women,” she told the lower house while replying to points raised during the debate on the amendment.

The passage of the amendment today will allow two more categories of bankrupt individuals to qualify for the Director-General of Insolvency’s certificate of discharge without going through debtors’ objections.

It involved article 8, subsection 33B (2A) of the Insolvency Act 1967, with the inclusion of the two categories – individuals who cannot manage themselves due to mental illness confirmed by a government hospital psychiatric expert and individuals aged 70 and above, based on the opinion and consideration of the director-general – as paragraphs (e) and (f).

“The amendment is in line with the government’s intention to preserve the welfare of bankrupts. They no longer have the means to cooperate and contribute to the bankruptcy administration.

“The factor of public interest also needs to be considered as bankruptcy involves public funds that need to be optimised,” she said when tabling the amendment yesterday. – May 24, 2023.