Zaki: Mindset change needed in corporate governance

KUALA LUMPUR: There is a need to change the mindset of the people involved in corporate governance, according to former chief justice Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi.

“We have to teach integrity. We have to make people want to be honest, not just on the face of it, but deeper than that.

“We want to make people not wanting to commit a wrong because it is not only illegal but immoral and wrong to do so,” he said in his speech at the 8th Asean Senior Management Development Programme (ASMDP) graduation ceremony in Bangi, near here, yesterday.

Zaki opined that integrity is not just simple honesty; it is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, character and sincerity.

“There seems to be a consensus on the definition of integrity.

“Integrity means upholding a high standard of morality and conduct, well beyond the limits of what law describes and mandates.

“In short, it is not merely compliance with the law but reading into the spirit of the law.

“I believe this is what our local Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance is trying to teach us to do,” he said.

Unfortunately, he said, lawyers being lawyers and accountants being accountants, would continue to find loopholes in the law to increase value for their clients.

“Their clients, being nonprofessionals, will more often than not, accept the valueincreasing advice.

“In some cases, the client may also persuade their professional advisor to find ways and means to increase value of the company or the shares irrespective of whether it is right or not,” he said.

Zaki said times change and “the interactions with the environment and others surrounding us change”, but “what remains constant is the need to make decisions based on our integrity.” — Bernama