Why Gumal & Meredith Sdn Bhd?

If you deal with the WCS Malaysia Program, you will from time to time see references to "Gumal and Meredith Sdn Bhd". Why?

The Wildlife Conservation Society is based in New York, and operates legally under the terms of a charter from New York State, originally granted to the New York Zoological Society (as WCS was formerly known) in 1894. As a not-for-profit organization, it is not registered as a corporation.

There is no easy way for foreign NGOs to operate in Malaysia. Foreign companies can register branch offices with the Registrar of Companies, but the Registrar of Societies has no corresponding arrangement. Lawyers in New York and Malaysia are looking at the best way to solve the problem, but in the meantime, the Wildlife Conservation Society cannot open a local bank account, employ staff, and so on.

So that the WCS Malaysia Program can function, two WCS staff, Dr Melvin Gumal and Mike Meredith, registered "Gumal and Meredith Sdn Bhd" as a private company. WCS has a cooperative agreement with the company, which is authorized to pay and receive money on behalf of WCS. The company is not intended to make a profit - it does not pay dividends to shareholders or emoluments to directors, and any surplus of revenue over expenditure is ploughed back into conservation activities. If you require formal authorization from WCS before dealing with Gumal and Meredith, please inform us at the time of the transaction.

We thank our Malaysian partners for working with Gumal and Meredith Sdn Bhd to further the work of WCS in Malaysia.