KUALA LUMPUR: Only five agencies will be registered under the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA) Act 2009, which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, April 20. To ensure that these agencies comply with the Act, a registrar of CRAs will be appointed, the House was told.

The companies are CTOS Sdn Bhd, SME Credit Bureau Sdn Bhd, RAM Credit Information Sdn Bhd, Dun & Bradstreet Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Financial Information Services (FIS) Sdn Bhd. The Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) is exempted as it is an agency under Bank Negara Malaysia.

In his reply to the questions posed during the debate on the Act, deputy finance minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein said that credit rating companies do not fall under CRA Act as these companies come under the purview of the Securities Commission.

He told the House that the stakeholders were concerned about the accountability  imposed by the Act to ensure the information is current and accurate.

"The onus is on them (the agencies) to ensure that the information is accurate and always up-to-date. We have to give them a certain amount of responsibility. When they gather the information, they must verify it and get consent from the individuals concerned," said Awang Adek.

"We want to instill a fear among the CRAs so that they are more cautious and take the law seriously. That’s why we fixed a high penalty, not just RM3,000, but RM500,000," he said.

Awang Adek said that while other countries allow access to an individual's credit history of up to five or seven years, the government has decided to fix it at two years on humanitarian grounds.

"If the bankruptcy record of a person is kept for more than two years, though he has already cleared it, it would be a pressure on him," he said.

"So, we prefer to give a second chance, provided that they have settled all their outstanding debts," Awang Adek said. The government considered the interests of all stakeholders when drafting the law, he said.

On whether the CRA would overlap with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), Awang Adek said the CRA includes companies and businesses while PDPA covers only individuals.