Myanmar has come closer to adopt a new Companies Law in decades as its Deputy Finance Minister submitted a bill pertaining to companies to the Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities), the upper chamber of the country’s national-level bicameral legislature Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union), on July 20.
The country used the century-old 1914 Myanmar Companies Act as its major company-related legal framework. When it comes to company administration, Myanmar also has the 1950 Special Companies Act, the 1955 Myanmar Companies (Amendment) Act and the 1957 Myanmar Companies Regulations. The bill is drafted with technical aid provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), merging the 1914 Myanmar Companies Act and the 1950 Special Companies Act. Designed to modernise and internationalise the company-related legal set-up of Myanmar, the new legislation is aimed to lift up domestic and foreign investments, develop the capital markets and improve the private sector, said Maung Maung Win, Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance.
Comments from the Office of the Union Attorney-General, relevant ministries and economic partner organisations were sought to contribute to the development of the bill, said the deputy minister at a legislative session. The bill includes eight parts, 32 chapters and 478 sections.
