KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara's inspections of banks should be emulated to ensure companies promote higher standards of corporate governance, the Securities Commission-Bursa Malaysia Corporate Governance Week 2010 was told.
The chairman of the Columbus Circle Group Navin Pasricha said on Friday, July 2 that Bank Negara's focus on banks in terms of financial regulation should be the benchmark applied for corporations.
This was to ensure better standards of compliance nationwide. Corporate governance inspections and enforcement represented by a national body would "stoke the fire of corporate governance", he said at one of the sessions
"At the same time, we must not forget that ongoing education is a big issue. There needs to be a bigger focus on the training for companies," he added.
Abdul Kadir bin Md Kassim, a practising lawyer, and vice president of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance David W. Berry, agreed with Pasricha's proposal.
Berry said Malaysia was "very patchy on the education front" when it came to corporate governance.
"Banks have a comprehensive training programme run by Bank Negara, which lasts eight days and deals with four modules. The programme previously lasted 10 days, and may be increased to that length again soon," he said.
"This sort of training is not available for public-listed companies. We need to get the essence of this programme out there to them. The overlay of the Bank Negara programme is relevant to all company directors.
"Right now, the 11/2 day training sessions they receive are not sufficient as they are only primers. There must be an opportunity for a more consistent education. We must move away from the short-term to the long-term," Berry said.
He also urged company directors be more proactive and not merely abiding by the law in practising corporate governance.
"Conforming and performing is not the same thing. Companies who comply with corporate governance regulations are sometimes more concerned with doing what's legal than what's right," he said.
"We have to away from compliance and towards delivery. There needs to be a set of deliverables for directors. It is far easier for them to fulfil what their job requires of them if they have a set of expectations to fulfil in the first place."
The chairman of the Columbus Circle Group Navin Pasricha said on Friday, July 2 that Bank Negara's focus on banks in terms of financial regulation should be the benchmark applied for corporations.
This was to ensure better standards of compliance nationwide. Corporate governance inspections and enforcement represented by a national body would "stoke the fire of corporate governance", he said at one of the sessions
"At the same time, we must not forget that ongoing education is a big issue. There needs to be a bigger focus on the training for companies," he added.
Abdul Kadir bin Md Kassim, a practising lawyer, and vice president of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance David W. Berry, agreed with Pasricha's proposal.
Berry said Malaysia was "very patchy on the education front" when it came to corporate governance.
"Banks have a comprehensive training programme run by Bank Negara, which lasts eight days and deals with four modules. The programme previously lasted 10 days, and may be increased to that length again soon," he said.
"This sort of training is not available for public-listed companies. We need to get the essence of this programme out there to them. The overlay of the Bank Negara programme is relevant to all company directors.
"Right now, the 11/2 day training sessions they receive are not sufficient as they are only primers. There must be an opportunity for a more consistent education. We must move away from the short-term to the long-term," Berry said.
He also urged company directors be more proactive and not merely abiding by the law in practising corporate governance.
"Conforming and performing is not the same thing. Companies who comply with corporate governance regulations are sometimes more concerned with doing what's legal than what's right," he said.
"We have to away from compliance and towards delivery. There needs to be a set of deliverables for directors. It is far easier for them to fulfil what their job requires of them if they have a set of expectations to fulfil in the first place."
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