Abstract
The Malaysian government has established a strong regulatory framework that underpins the national corporate governance (CG) ecosystem through local rules, regulation and best practices. Following that, this paper seeks to explore the CG compliance – governance structure and practices – of public listed companies in Malaysia. Particularly, this paper investigates the Board-related structure and practice which comprise of board size, board composition, board committee, CEO duality, multiple directorships, board meeting and the age limit for director. Content analysis was used to collect the CG related information of the top 100 companies via their annual reports. The information disclosed was then analyzed against the four key Malaysian CG-related requirements, namely; Companies Act 1965, BM CGG, MCCG and the CG Blueprint 2011. It was found that the board size of the Malaysian companies is appropriate and manageable, with majority of the companies complying with the requirements pertaining to the appointments of INED. Additionally, many companies favor for the separation between CEO and Chairman of the Board in governing their businesses. The companies also regard multiple directorships as a ‘healthy’ practice; and that their practices in conducting board meeting also in comply with the referred requirements. This study also found that all companies had appointed some of their BODs with the age ranging between 50 and 69. Overall, these findings put forward an insight that majority of the Malaysian companies studied complied beyond the minimal requirement of CG.
Corporate governance must become a need and not remain a want in order to be effective…they [companies] must feel the need to comply and not just want to do it… You must have the passion, you must have the belief; this is the way to move forward.
Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas
President of Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance
The Star Online, October 29th, 2010
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Appendix 1: Top 80 local public listed companies in Malaysia
Appendix 1: Top 80 local public listed companies in Malaysia
No | Companies |
|---|---|
1 | Maybank Banking Berhad |
2 | CIMB Group Holdings Berhad |
3 | Maxis Berhad |
4 | MISC Berhad |
5 | Tenaga National Berhad |
6 | IOI Corporation Berhad |
7 | Axiata Group Berhad |
8 | Genting Berhad |
9 | Petronas Gas Berhad |
10 | PPB Group Berhad |
11 | Digi.Com Berhad |
12 | Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad |
13 | Plus Expressway Berhad |
14 | YTL Power International Berhad |
15 | Genting Malaysia Berhad |
16 | Am Bank Holdings Berhad |
17 | YTL Corporation Berhad |
18 | RHB Capital Berhad |
19 | Telekom Malaysia Berhad |
20 | Petronas Dagang Berhad |
21 | Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad |
22 | MMC Corporation Berhad |
23 | Malaysia Airlines System Berhad |
24 | IJM Corporation Berhad |
25 | Berjaya Corporation Berhad |
26 | Berjaya Sport Toto Berhad |
27 | Gamuda Berhad |
28 | Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad |
29 | Parkson Holdings Berhad |
30 | Berjaya Land Berhad |
31 | UEM Land Berhad |
32 | Genting Plantation Berhad |
33 | EON Capital Berhad |
34 | Batu Kawan Berhad |
35 | Affin Holdings Berhad |
36 | Alliance Financial Group Berhad |
37 | SP Setia Berhad Group |
38 | Top Glove Corporation Berhad |
39 | Bursa Malaysia Berhad |
40 | Boustead Holdings Berhad |
41 | AirAsia Berhad |
42 | JCY International Berhad |
43 | Oriental Holding Berhad |
44 | Malaysia Bulk Carrier Berhad |
45 | KLCC Property Holdings Berhad |
46 | Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad |
47 | Proton Holdings Berhad |
48 | Sapuracrest Petroleum Berhad |
49 | Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad |
50 | IGB Corporation Berhad |
51 | The Star Publication (Malaysia) Berhad |
52 | IJM Land Berhad |
53 | Kencana Petroleum Berhad |
54 | Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad |
55 | Titan Chemicals Corporation Berhad |
56 | LPI Capital Berhad |
57 | Dialog Group Berhad |
58 | Mudajaya Group Berhad |
59 | Media Prima Berhad |
60 | KNM Group Berhad |
61 | Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad |
62 | DRB Hicom Berhad |
63 | WCT Berhad |
64 | IJM Plantation Berhad |
65 | YTL Cement Berhad |
66 | Hartalega Holdings Berhad |
67 | Supermax Corporation Berhad |
68 | Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Berhad |
69 | Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad |
70 | Sunway City Berhad |
71 | Wah Seong Corporation Berhad |
72 | KPJ Healthcare Berhad |
73 | Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Berhad |
74 | Masterskill Education Group Berhad |
75 | NCB Holdings Berhad |
76 | QL Resources Berhad |
77 | Pos Malaysia Berhad |
78 | Mah Sing Group Berhad |
79 | Malaysian Pacific Industries Berhad |
80 | TA Global Berhad |
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Yatim, N., Yusoff, H. (2014). Governance Structure and Practice in Malaysia: Board of Directors’ Role and Responsibilities. In: Idowu, S., Çaliyurt, K. (eds) Corporate Governance. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45167-6_11
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