Section 18

ten million ringgit; or

Loan (Local) 23

where an amount of money is the subject matter of the offence, ten times the amount, whichever is the greater, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fifteen years or both:

Provided that where the person found guilty of the offence is a body corporate, the above-mentioned punishment of imprisonment shall not apply to it.

Where any offence against any provision of this Act has been committed by any institution mentioned in subsection (1), any person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, officer, or controller of the institution or was purporting to act in any such capacity, or was in any manner or to any extent responsible for the management of any of the affairs of the institution, or was assisting in the management, shall be guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

Where any person (in this subsection referred to as the

―principal―) would be liable under this Act to any punishment or penalty for any act, omission, neglect or default, he shall be liable to the same punishment or penalty for every such act, omission, neglect or default of any clerk, servant or agent of his, or of the clerk or servant of the agent:

Provided that the act, omission, neglect or default was committed by the principal’s clerk or servant in the course of his employment, or by the agent when acting on behalf of the principal, or by the clerk or servant of the agent in the course of his employment by the agent or otherwise on behalf of the agent.

Without prejudice to subsection (2), where an institution referred to in subsection (1) is a financial institution under paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of ―financial institution‖ under subsection 2(1), it shall not be liable to be prosecuted for any offence

24 Laws of Malaysia ACT 637

committed by it under subsection (1), or be liable under subsection (3).

Nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to prevent the prosecution, conviction and punishment of any person according to the provisions of any other written law; but so that no person shall be punished more than once for the same offence.

For the purposes of this section, ―director‖, ―officer‖ and

―controller‖ shall have the meaning respectively assigned to it under subsection 2(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989.

Civil liability not affected by prosecution or nonprosecution, etc.