In Malaysia, timeshare industry is regulated by several regulatory bodies.
1. Malaysia Holiday Timeshare Developer’s Federation.
a. Incorporated in 1993 to assist Government effort in ensuring professionalism in the industry
& ensure self regulation among members.
b. All active timeshare companies are member of MHTDF.
c. MHTDF had its own Code of Ethics & Constitution
d. Purpose is to safeguard public interest by promulgating appropriate legislation under
Companies Act, 1965 and appropriate guidelines.
2.
Trustee
a. Each timeshare company must have a trust deed and a trustee to act on the interest of
holders to ensure no misappropriation of profit or revenue.
b. The trustee is a licensed committee made up of timeshare members themselves. Members
are appointed on a quarterly basis during an Annual General Meeting.
c. Any complaints from holders can be directed to the trustee.
3.
Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia(SSM)
a. A government regulatory body. Timeshare regulation is stated in Section 84 of Companies
Act. SSM also regulate communication materials to the public to regulate misrepresentation.
b. SSM regulated that the paid up capital of the developer is no less than RM1million in
accordance to Securities Industry Act 1983.
c. Also regulated that a compulsory sinking fund established to cover for periodic repairs &
replacement. 10% is of the annual maintenance fee collected from each member is allocated
for these prupose.
d. Proposed sale & issue to the public timeshare interest must be approved by the Capital
Issues Committee (CIC) as they are deemed as securities.
e. A mandatory cooling-off period disclosed in the prospectus where the purchaser can cancel
his membership.
f. The number of timeshare holders should correspond to the number of units in the project.
List of facilities & amenities must be clearly stated in the prospectus.
