Deposit-taking co-operative
Deposit-taking co-operatives (DTCs) were a type of non-banking financial company in Malaysia. They began mainly with Chinese societies, and later some Malay co-operatives were formed. Some of these co-ops ran into serious trouble, and in 1986 several failed, triggering a run on banks. Bank Negara Malaysia froze the assets of the Cooperative Central Bank and 23 other deposit-taking co-operatives.
The crash caused a political crisis as the government debated bailing out investors. The government eventually approved a plan to reimburse the depositors, but the co-operative sector never fully recovered. These schemes were often seen as pyramid-like because they depended on continually attracting new depositors to meet obligations. Today such schemes are banned and are commonly called Kuttu or get-rich-quick schemes.
On October 20, 2008, Bank Negara Malaysia also seized several more institutions: BuluhMas, Jazmeen, Noradz and Eastana Farms. Deposit-taking co-operatives are subject to financial acts overseen by the Minister of Finance. The Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) has published a top 100 co-ops list for public view. Generally, organisations that are not banks and do not have Koperasi or Berhad in their name are not allowed to take deposits. Some co-ops limit membership to people from related companies or family members, a arrangement similar to Friendly Mutual groups in the UK.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:28 (CET).