Several competing legal requirements are making it difficult for potential whistleblowers to report money laundering, according to lawyer Selvamalar Alagaratnam.

“It is very difficult for someone who becomes aware of suspects of money laundering to sometimes do the right thing because you have laws that get in the way, which makes a person wonder whether or not he or she should report this or alert someone,” Selvamalar told a conference held in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

She said these include the Financial Services Act 2013, (FSA), which prevents the sharing of banking information; and the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), which impedes the sharing of information.

In addition, there is also the Official Secrets Act 1972, which she said had already been used to prosecute whistleblowers.

Although Malaysia also has the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 to protect whistleblowers, a closer read would reveal that this only applies to whistleblowers who report suspected crimes to government regulators and no one else...