Malaysia

The following contains information that may pertain to your club or district regarding compliance requirements in Malaysia.

District Compliance

Toastmasters International engaged local legal counsel, who has indicated the organization is in compliance with Malaysia law and establishing a legal entity is not required.

According to the Bylaws of Toastmasters International, Article XII: Districts, Section 3 (e), Districts, Divisions, and Areas are not permitted to create their own legal entities as this would jeopardize our non-profit status.

Toastmasters International shall indemnify district directors as long as the directors are in compliance with Toastmasters’ governing documents and have met the standard of conduct per Section 5238(b) or Section 5238(c) of the California Corporations Code. For more information see the Bylaws of Toastmasters International, Article XIII: Miscellaneous, Section 6(b).

Club Compliance

Within the Ministry of Home Affairs Malaysia, the government agency Registry of Societies (ROS) Malaysia enforces laws and regulations that impact Toastmasters International’s clubs. The ROS governs all clubs in Malaysia and dictates how they are created and administered. The ROS states that clubs must remain in compliance by completing paperwork specified by the ROS on an annual basis.

Based on Malaysia’s ROS requirements, Toastmasters International encourages clubs to register with the ROS and remain in compliance. A club’s failure to comply with the ROS may result in the Malaysian government terminating the club and imposing fines, as well as other negative consequences for the club and its members.

Clubs should register with the Registry of Societies and submit paperwork through Malaysia’s Registry of Societies Electronic System (eROSES). A link to eROSES can be found in the following Malaysia Resources section.

Financial Information

Toastmasters International is not required to form a legal entity; therefore, districts and clubs do not need to file any tax filings as they are not applicable. Toastmasters International will continue to monitor any changes within Malaysia to ensure the organization remains in compliance.

Intellectual Property

Toastmasters International recognizes the challenges a district or club may face when purchasing items and goods from the Toastmasters store. To help alleviate these challenges, Toastmasters is researching methods to provide our districts, clubs and members with the quickest and most cost effective ways to purchase and receive goods.

We ask our members to respect Toastmasters International’s intellectual property and abide by Policy 4.0: Intellectual Property and our brand guidelines. Items which are not purchased directly from the Toastmasters International store or have not been approved by Toastmasters’ Brand and Trademarks teams can be considered counterfeit goods. This undermines Toastmasters’ ability to protect our copyrights and registered trademarks and ensure that members are only receiving the highest quality goods.

If you would like to create customized goods for your district or club, we ask that you please submit a Trademark Use Request and provide the requested information. Our teams will be more than happy to assist you in designing a product which respects Toastmasters’ intellectual property and follows our brand guidelines. You can find trademarked logos, images and templates in the Malaysia Resources section below.

Toastmasters International has a portfolio of trademarks both in the U.S and Malaysia. Trademarks registered in Malaysia can be found in the Malaysia Resources section.

Record Retention

During the program year, a district or club will accumulate documents and emails. Therefore, Toastmasters recommends that the district or club follow the recordkeeping policy, which can be found in the FAQs.

Additional Information
For more information, or for questions that are of an urgent nature, please contact the Treasury and Compliance team concerning financial questions or the Legal team at World Headquarters.