Quality Of Disclosures By Companies Improve In 2016, Says Bursa

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia Bhd's latest 'Corporate Governance Analysis Report' has revealed that the quality of disclosures among listed issuers improved on an average of 69 per cent in 2016 from 61 per cent in 2014. In a statement, Bursa Malaysia said large capitalised (cap) companies achieved average scores of 72 per cent compared with 64 per cent in 2014 while mid-cap companies scored 67 per cent versus 60 per cent in 2014. Small cap companies, on the other hand, recorded significant improvement to 68 per cent from 60 per cent in 2014. Bursa Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Tajuddin Atan said high scores achieved by listed issuers was a testament to the high standard of corporate governance in the local marketplace. "As an exchange, we are committed to further enhancing the corporate governance standards of our market. "We are delighted to say that our supervisory approach with equal emphasis on corporate governance advocacy programmes and engagements with our listed issuers, have been successful and we will continue to do the same, moving forward," he added. However, Bursa Malaysia also noted that there was still room for improvement, especially disclosures on the activities of the board, board committee and individual directors. It said only 56 per cent disclosed the criteria for evaluation of individual directors, 40 per cent disclosed criteria for evaluation of board committee and 65 per cent disclosed criteria for evaluation of the board. "Most listed issuers also continued to issue generic disclosures in their statement of risk management and internal control. "In addition to this report, each of the listed issuers reviewed will receive individual disclosure scores and a detailed report on areas where they have made adequate disclosures, as well as, areas for improvement," it added. -- BERNAMA