Firms still lack transparency, says MICG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG) said the disclosure practices and levels of transparency among corporates still fall short of expected standards.

MICG president Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said corporate governance standards play a pivotal role in promoting greater trust and accountability in the capital market.

“These standards raise the expectations of public-listed companies with regard to transparent and comprehensive public reporting. For trust and accountability to exist, there must be transparency,” he said after launching the inaugural assessment on “Transparency in Corporate Reporting — Assessing Malaysia’s Top 100 Public Listed Companies”, here, yesterday.

The scope of the report covered the assessment of Bursa Malaysia’s top 100 public-listed companies by market capitalisation as of December 30 last year.

“Public sources of information includes corporate websites, annual reports and media reporting among others,” said Yusli, adding that the objective of the report was to raise the bar of corporate governance in Malaysia.

He said MICG undertook the study with the support of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for governance, integrity and human rights, to access on a larger scale the disclosure practices of large Malaysian companies.

The study revealed that 15 companies scored more than 50 per cent on all three dimensions, 11 companies scored full points in at least one of the three dimensions and 64 companies scored less than 50 per cent overall.

The report stated that on an overall basis, government-linked companies scored better, compared with multinational corporations and family-run public-listed companies with an average score of 5.8,5.5 and 4.1, respectively.

The Minister responsible for governance, integrity and human rights in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan said good governance, institutions and processes are important for the country’s economic resilient.

“Malaysia needs to be progressive with strong support in areas of political stability, economic growth and social engagement.”

The national drive to improve governance and reduce corruption must be tackled at the public and private sectors,” he said.

PIC BY ROSELA ISMAIL Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan (second from right) with (from left) Malaysian Institute Integrity president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff, Malaysian Institute Corporate Governance (MICG) deputy...