Takaful, like conventional insurance, involves the allocation and spreading of risk, and is becoming an increasingly important part of our professional and personal lives. This article seeks to set the stage by clarifying the position of takaful within the Malaysian secular common law system with respect to the applicability of Syariah law. In doing so, a comparative analysis will be made of the situation in other Islamic jurisdictions like the Middle East, Pakistan and Indonesia. The latter part of the article will then examine the legal framework regulating takaful in Malaysia, with the aim of suggesting much needed reform, especially with respect to the Takaful Act 1984, so as to support and further boost the growth of takaful in Malaysia, in line with the Malaysian government’s aspirations of establishing Malaysia as an international Islamic financial centre.

This article examines the concepts of a "contingent" creditor and a "prospective" creditor in the Companies Act and the Companies (Winding Up) Rules 1969 in the light of existing case authority. In the process, it attempts to define the outer boundaries of these concepts. Some practical considerations and problems in making a claim against a company as a contingent or prospective creditor are also examined. Particular attention is paid to the problem of proving non-contractual claims for unliquidated damages in the winding up of the insolvent company.

This article considers selected aspects of legal professional privilege; its role in the context of garnishee proceedings; the scope of the "communication" that falls within its protection; and the requirement of confidentiality in the communication that is sought to be protected. These issues were raised recently in Chua Su Yin & Co. v Ng Sung Yee & Anor.

Modern technology may be used to do goodbut it can also do harm. Biotechnology perhaps poses the greatest challenge to ethical decision-making as it touches everyone's lives especially in the areas of artificial reproductive technology, gene technology and organ transplantation and erodes traditional ethical conceptions. This overview addresses itself to some of the challenges to ethical decision-making in these and other areas.

The only central bank money individuals and businesses have today is cash. Everything else they use as money is commercial bank promises. Central bank digital currencies (“CBDC”) will likely change all this by putting central bank money into everyone’s hands. China is a front runner in this revolution, and its CBDC, the e-CNY, may well in time profoundly affect the international economic order. This article analyses the major considerations around the e-CNY, its ramifications, in particular for trade, and its possible challenges.

It is now widely recognised that in the 1970s and 1980s, cooperation within ASEAN had a political and strategic focus. With this focus, ASEAN has generally been hailed as a success, particularly in the coordination of its members political stands on international issues. The aim of economic cooperation, although enshrined in the Bangkok Declaration, was largely relegated to the back seat until 1976, when the Declaration of ASEAN Concord was signed in Bali, Indonesia. In Bali, the leaders of ASEAN reaffirmed the goal of economic cooperation within ASEAN, although progress in this regard, since then, has been slow. _x000D_ However, as ASEAN entered the decade of the 1990s, there was a perceptible change in focus. The new raison d'etre for ASEAN cooperation is now economic. Concrete developments include the designation of sub-regional areas with complementary factor endowments for investment and economic development, the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs Scheme, and ultimately, by means of which Scheme, the formation of a free trade zone between member countries (the ASEAN Free Trade Area). _x000D_ _x000D_ The ASEAN Heads of Government recognised, at the Fourth ASEAN Summit in 1992, that multilateral cooperation within ASEAN is one of the primary means of achieving economic stability in the 21st century. The need for greater economic integration in the face of growing economic regionalism and the prospect of more intense competition for foreign investment in the region was emphasised. _x000D_ _x000D_ Thus far, the emphasis has been on cooperation in trade and industry. In the area of securities, there has been little talk of capital markets integration. It has been observed that it does not require any significant feat of intellect to notice that capital markets all around the globe have internationalised or are in the process of internationalising. This trend is perceptible too in ASEAN as individual Member States have gradually liberalised and deregulated, in varying degrees, their respective financial and capital markets since the late 1970s. Regionalisation and internationalisation of the ASEAN securities markets are on the agenda. With advances in technology and telecommunications, national boundaries are no longer barriers to international securities trading and investment. Leading companies around the world have realised that their capital-raising capabilities are greatly enhanced through multi-jurisdictional share issues. Thus far, most of these multi-jurisdictional offerings have occurred in Western developed countries. Given the significant level of investable liquidity in ASEAN markets, it is not unlikely that companies may think of doing the same in ASEAN. _x000D_ _x000D_ Because of the increasing economic intercourse between ASEAN countries and the integral role capital markets play in facilitating this intercourse, it is crucial then that ASEAN should consider their appropriate response in the area of capital markets development and securities regulation. It does not seem too early then for ASEAN to seriously consider cooperation in the area of securities regulation and ultimately regulatory integration of their capital markets. _x000D_ _x000D_ The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of harmonisation in the regulation of the securities industry in ASEAN. The paper is not a thesis on a possible code for the ASEAN securities industry. Rather, it examines the purpose of harmonising securities regulations and to question whether harmonisation in itself is at all an attainable goal in the light of the very different backgrounds of the member countries of ASEAN. The experience of the European Community in harmonising their securities legislation is considered and an attempt is made to see what lessons may be gleaned from this experience.