Willing away your shares with Bursa Malaysia

Recently, there was an opinion piece in The Star newspaper from a disgruntled person regarding Bursa Malaysia. Terming himself as an “Angry Senior Citizen”, he was questioning whether Bursa Malaysia had a rule which would prevent anyone from bequeathing his listed shares to other people easily. In his letter, he wrote:

I AM an unmarried 68-year-old senior citizen.
I have 10 counters (shares) with Bursa Malaysia.
I have made my will and intend to bequeath three counters to my nephews and seven counters to my cousin after I am gone.
From what I understand, Bursa Malaysia will not allow this.
Bursa Malaysia will only allow the deceased children, siblings and parents to inherit his or her shares.
In my case, to whom can I bequeath my shares as I have no children.
Both my parents are dead. I have three sisters and I am the youngest in our family.
My eldest sister is 82, my second sister is 76 years and my youngest sister is 72.
By the time of my demise, all of them may not be around. So if I am not allowed to bequeath my shares to my cousin and nephews by my method of transfer, to whom can I bequeath my shares to?
Why all these regulations? It is the ulterior motive and intention of Bursa Malaysia to confiscate and forfeit my shares?
The contents or intentions in the will of a deceased person must supersede all the rules and regulations in any governmental statutory bodies otherwise it is an abuse of one’s human rights.
What is the use of making a will if it cannot be carried out?
I hope those in authority in Bursa Malaysia will open their eyes and realise the unreasonable rules and regulations currently in force.
Not only relatives but anyone who cares and looks after me must be eligible to inherit my shares after I am gone. Bursa Malaysia has put me and those in the same situation in a dilemma.

Of course, this person had grounds to be concerned because as an unmarried senior citizen, his parents had already predeceased him and his siblings were way older than him. Instead, he would want to give his shares to his nephews and a cousin. He claimed that the Bursa Malaysia had some regulations that would go against his wishes in his Will.

To the Bursa Malaysia’s credit, it did not take them long to respond. Just four days after Senior Citizen’s letter had appeared, this was the reply and it is self-explanatory:

WE refer to the letter “Get rid of these unreasonable regulations” (The Star, Nov 23) by “Angry Senior Citizen”.
The plight faced by the complainant is well-appreciated by Bursa Malaysia Depository Sdn Bhd.
We would like to clarify that Bursa Malaysia Depository does not prescribe any regulations or determine a shareholder’s beneficiaries in a will. Therefore, the shareholder may decide the recipients of his shares upon his death, based on the will made by him.
Under the circumstances, Bursa Malaysia Depository would like to extend its offer to facilitate the process of the transmission of the securities’ titles (transfer of shares) to the executors of the deceased’s estate or the relevant beneficiaries.
Currently, upon the death of a shareholder, the personal representative of the deceased’s estate or the relevant beneficiaries would be able to have the deceased’s shares transferred to them by completing the relevant form and forwarding the following supporting documents to Bursa Malaysia Depository:
> The Grant of Probate (where there is a will); or
> The Letter of Administration (where the deceased leaves no will); or
> The Distribution Order, if the same has been extracted;
> The Death Certificate; and
> The NRIC of the next-of-kin or the relevant beneficiary.
Upon receiving complete documentation, followed by verification of these documents, Bursa Malaysia Depository will instruct the relevant stockbroking companies where the deceased shareholder’s securities (CDS) accounts are maintained to transfer the shares from the deceased’s CDS account to the CDS account of the personal representative or relevant beneficiaries.
In this regard, Bursa Malaysia advises the complainant to contact its Depository Operations Department at 03–20347000 for any further clarification.
PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Bursa Malaysia Bhd

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4 Responses to Willing away your shares with Bursa Malaysia

  1. tan says:

    Dear Sirs/ Madam,

    Good day for you.
    I was facing an issue regarding the transfer of the shares. I learnt from this articles that the shares will be transfer from the deceased’s CDS account to the CDS account of the personal representative or relevant beneficiaries.

    My question was, what if deceased does not posses this shareholder’s securities (CDS) accounts? How the shares is going to transfer?

    Your prompt reply would be highly appreciate.

    • SS Quah says:

      Dear Tan, as far as I know, this should be a non-issue. Anyone who holds shares in a public-listed company in Bursa Malaysia would have a CDS account or otherwise, he would not have been able to trade (buy or sell) in the first place. I hope this helps.

      • Chelsey Poh says:

        What if the beneficiaries do not have a CDS account?

        • ssquah says:

          Dear Chelsey, it is quite easy to open a CDS account. Just go see one of the investment banks nearest to you. Unless, of course, if you stay overseas. When the time comes, seek advice from the administrator/executor of the estate.

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