Malaysia's regulatory framework, corporate governance excellent – Study

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has an excellent regulatory framework and corporate governance, said a corporate governance report.
BPA Australasia director, Chris Bennett, said Malaysia's battle, however, would be the misperception of its practices.
"The regulators must keep on doing what they are doing. People in general agree that Malaysia has already an excellent regulatory framework.
"There is no need for Malaysia to feel that it is not meeting the standard, because it does," Bennett told reporters here today.
He said this after presenting his study, titled "Insuring the Future: Improving the Corporate Governance of Major Asia-Pacific Insurance Companies", which he co-authored with National University of Singapore Regional Research director, Prof Mak Yuen Teen.
Mak said Malaysia suffered a little bit from the perception issue, which was unfair.
"In the area of corporate governance, Malaysia excelled in the professional development of directors compared to other countries in Asia," he said.
On the corporate governance study, Mak said insurance companies in Asia-Pacific must work on remuneration disclosure, performance assessment of directors as well as the disclosure of methodology and criteria.
"If the companies really did well, especially on the performance assessment of directors, it can really be an important contributor to the board's effectiveness," he said.
The study, published by the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, covered 50 of the largest listed insurance companies in Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. – Bernama