6th October 2026 - 5 min read
The Malaysian Insolvency Department (MdI) and the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) will give creative industry workers in debt free advice on money management, bankruptcy, and insolvency. If you work in film, TV, music, or anywhere else in the creative industry, that includes you, even if you’ve already been declared bankrupt. FINAS chairman Datuk Hans Isaac said the first phase will go to people who need help urgently. After that, the service will open to around 30,000 workers in the industry.
The two agencies signed their cooperation memorandum on 9 April at Simposium Seniman 2026. This latest announcement came on 5 October at the Seni, Populariti dan Survival Kewangan forum, held at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) in Kuala Lumpur. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who spoke at the forum, said money problems shouldn’t put an end to an artist’s talent or career.
Neither MdI nor FINAS has published an application channel for the advisory service yet. If you need help now, contact FINAS through finas.gov.my and ask about the MdI programme. You can also ask your industry association, as the 19 film associations under GAFEMA will pass the help on to their members.
MdI’s Second Chance roadshows, which run nationwide through 2026, also offer free advice and consultations.
If you’ve already been declared bankrupt, the Second Chance Policy (Dasar Peluang Kedua) gives you two ways out, automatic discharge and the Fast Track.
Automatic discharge frees you from bankruptcy without you having to apply. Under the 2023 amendments to the Insolvency Act, this happens three years after you give MdI a full list of what you own and owe (statement of affairs). By then, you need to have paid the amount MdI set for you and kept up with what it asks of you, such as reporting your income and spending every six months. If you haven’t, MdI can delay your discharge by up to two years. Anyone you owe money to (a creditor) can also object, and the court can delay it by up to two years.
The Fast Track was launched on 16 February 2026 for four groups. They’re single parents, scam victims, buyers caught in abandoned housing projects, and micro, small, and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers. You only need to fit one category, you apply online through e-Insolvensi, and complete applications are processed in about 36 days. If you run your creative work as a registered business and borrowed for it, ask MdI whether you qualify.
MdI discharged 176,851 bankruptcy cases in 2024 and 204,487 in 2025, which adds up to more than 381,000 discharges in two years, as the government pushed to speed up discharges.
Discharge releases you from the debts that could be proven in your bankruptcy. It doesn’t protect anyone who guaranteed your loans. If a parent or partner stood as guarantor, the lender can still go after them for what’s unpaid.
A creditor can’t take bankruptcy action against you unless you owe at least RM100,000, the threshold since September 2021. So if you owe a bank RM30,000 on a personal loan and a credit card, you’re in trouble but you’re nowhere near bankruptcy, and you have time to fix it.
For bank debt, AKPK’s Debt Management Programme can roll your loans and cards into one monthly payment that you can afford, and it’s free. Enrolment shows on your CCRIS report, so you may not get new credit while you’re on it. Our guide explains what AKPK does and how to apply.
For a lot of freelancers, the debt starts with someone else’s unpaid invoice. MdI said its work with AIAC covers mediation, which can settle payment, contract, and royalty disputes faster and for less than going to court.
The route open to you right now is AIAC’s Pro Bono Commercial Mediation Initiative, which started on 18 May 2026. It waives the filing fee, administrative costs, and mediator’s fee for commercial disputes worth RM250,000 or less. Media, broadcast, arts, and entertainment are among the 26 eligible areas, and so are intellectual property and copyright. You can apply online or walk in at AIAC in Kuala Lumpur, and sessions run in English, Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, or Tamil.
The dispute has to come out of a written agreement or contract, so a job agreed over a phone call won’t qualify. Mediation also only works if the other side agrees to sit down with you. If they won’t and you’re owed RM5,000 or less, you can take your claim to the small claims court as an individual, without a lawyer.
Each agency handles a different kind of money problem, so start with the one that matches yours.
| Your situation | Where to go | What to know |
| Already declared bankrupt | MdI, through e-Insolvensi or 03-8885 1000 | Automatic discharge after three years if you cooperate, longer if it’s delayed, or about 36 days on the Fast Track if you’re in one of the four groups |
| Behind on bank loans or credit cards | AKPK, 03-2616 7766 | Free debt restructuring, which shows on your CCRIS report |
| Owed money under a written contract worth RM250,000 or less | AIAC, 03-2271 1000 | No filing, admin, or mediator fee, but the other party has to take part |
| Creative worker who needs advice now | FINAS or your industry association | Free advice from MdI, with urgent cases served first |
If you’re a creative freelancer, put every job in writing before you start, with the fee, payment date, and any royalty split spelled out, because a written agreement is what makes an unpaid fee eligible for free mediation later. And if you’re already bankrupt and have kept up with your contributions, log in to e-Insolvensi and check your bankruptcy status. If it’s been three years since you submitted your statement of affairs, you may already be discharged and not know it.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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