Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said any individual was allowed to open an account with a licensed bank, including offshore accounts.
However, they have to go through the approval process that is subject to the Anti -Money Laundering and Anti -Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA 2001).
The statement was made in response to Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng who sought clarification following the recent revelation by 'Pandora Papers' that trillions of ringgit had been deposited into offshore bank accounts.
These Pandora Papers reveal hundreds of world leaders, politicians, tycoons, celebrities, drug dealers, members of the royal family and religious leaders have hidden their assets in various ways over the past 25 years.
Tengku Zafrul also informed that the Malaysian financial sector is currently supervised by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) through the Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758) and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 759).
Meanwhile, offshore financial activities are regulated by Labuan Offshore Financial Services (Labuan) through the Labuan Financial Services and Securities Act 2010 (Act 704) and the Labuan Islamic Financial Services and Securities Act 2010.
