Applicability of Filing Financial Statements in MBRS / XBRL mode with the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)

SSM introduced a digital submission platform based on the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format in 2018. This submission platform is known as the “Malaysian Business Reporting System” (MBRS) which allows for the annual submission filing of:

• Financial Statements and Reports (FS);
• Annual Return (AR); and
• Exemption Applications (EA) which are related to the FS and AR applications.

All companies incorporated in Malaysia are required to file annual returns and financial statements in XBRL format, except for those which are exempted. The XBRL report has to be prepared in accordance with applicable standards such as Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) Taxonomy or Malaysian Private Entity Reporting Standards (MPERS) Taxonomy. Some companies will file a full set of financial statements in MBRS format, while some others will file only Key Financial Indicators in MBRS format. The filing requirements  depend on the type of company and Exemption Application filed.

Who Are Exempted from Filing?

Banking, Financing and Insurance companies regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia, are exempted from filing a full set of Financial Statements through MBRS and will instead lodge their Financial Statements over the counter at SSM offices.

Foreign Companies (“FC”) that are registered under CA2016 will have the following options of filing their Financial Statements with SSM:

• A full set of Financial Statements for MFRS in XBRL format;
• A full set of Financial Statements for FC in XBRL format, which only requires the filing of statutory declaration (if approval of Exemption Application 3 [“EA3” – Application to Waive Lodgement of Financial Statements by Foreign Company], has been approved by SSM); or
• A set of key financial indicators for FC in XBRL format (if approval of Exemption Application 2 [“EA2” – Application for Exemption from Filing Financial Statements in Full XBRL Format], has been approved by SSM)

Types of Exemption Filing:

There are a number of available Exemption Applications (“EA”) in relation to the submission of Financial Statements and Key Financial Indicators through MBRS:

These EAs must be submitted and approved by SSM prior to the filing of the relevant Financial Statements or Key Financial Indicators on the MBRS Portal.