Rohana Othman

Board of Director's Attributes as Deterrence to Corporate Fraud

Abstract Good corporate governance serves a great shield for the company to counter corporate fraud. Several attributes create good corporate governance and one of them is the board of directors. This paper examines the influence of board size, board meeting and board duality in deterring corporate fraud on 99 fraudulent companies listed under the Malaysian Securities Commission enforcement action for criminal prosecution or civil action regarding corporate fraud. These companies are then matched with another 99 non-fraudulent public listed companies in Bursa Malaysia. This study covered a period of ten (10) years, from the year 2000 until 2010. The panel data of ten (10) years was used to provide a stronger suggestion of causality via natural examination and subsequently, would provide better evidence from the analysis of board of directors attributes. Binary logistic regression analysis is used to analyse the data obtained. The result shows that there is a significant influence between the frequency of board meetings and corporate fraud. However, there is no significant influence between board size and board duality toward corporate fraud. This study concluded that in Malaysia the frequency of board meetings can be used as a method to deter corporate fraud. The findings will contribute to enhance the existing corporate governance policy in Malaysia to foster the achievement of zero corporate fraud.

Academic staff development in Universiti Teknologi MARA - A perspective using training need analysis

This study explored the training needs for the academic staff of University Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Questionnaires were distributed among UiTMs academic staff and their responses were used to conduct a training need and gap analyses with a view to identify priority areas for training and to recommend training programs for the academic staff to attend as an effort to enhance their teaching, research, IT competencies. The outcomes of this study will be crucial to guide UiTMs administration towards the direction of achieving a sustainable high quality academic staff development environment.

Fraud Detection and Prevention Methods in the Malaysian Public Sector: Accountants’ and Internal Auditors’ Perceptions☆

Abstract This study aims to identify methods to detect and prevent fraud and corruption in the public sector in Malaysia and their corresponding perceived effectiveness from the accountants’ point of view. This study uses structured questionnaires ( Cates, 1985 ) on a population sample comprising accountants and internal auditors from the Malaysian public sector. The outcomes from the study showed operational audits, enhanced audit committees, improved internal controls, implementation of fraud reporting policy, staff rotation, fraud hotlines and forensic accountants are among the most effective fraud detection and prevention mechanisms employed in the public sector. This study contributes towards enhancing the scope and effectiveness of fraud and corruption detection and prevention in the government machinery in Malaysia.

Factors influencing ethical ideology among accounting students and practitioners

Several studies have established ethical ideology as one of the important factors to determine whether an individual is inclined to be involved in unethical behaviour. This study aims to explore if there are any differences in the ethical ideology between accounting practitioners and accounting students and to ascertain whether gender and age will affect the ethical ideology of the respective respondents. The results reveal that there is no significant difference in ethical ideology between accounting practitioners and accounting students. There is however a significant difference in the ethical ideology between genders. Males are more relativistic than females, while females are more idealistic than males. Additionally, the results also indicate that there is no significant difference in ethical ideology of the respondents in different age groups. The findings from this study will serve to help in determining the ethical ideology of an individual and would provide valuable information that can explain the differences among individuals when making ethical judgements.

Conceptualizing terrorist financing in the age of uncertainty

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the concept of terrorism, terrorism financing, the relationship between money laundering and terrorism financing and the governance of terrorism financing. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a doctrinal, content analysis and secondary data, of which the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 and the Penal Code are the primary sources. The secondary sources for this paper include articles in academic journals, books and online databases. Findings Several methods are involved in the commission of terrorism financing such as raising, moving and using of funds. The activities relating to terrorism financing under the Penal Code are broader than such activities. Despite the adherence by Malaysia to international policies established by the Financial Action Task Force, terrorism financing has remained a threat that must be addressed by the relevant authorities. Practical implications This paper could be a useful source of information for the practitioners, academicians, policymakers and students studying this particular area of crime. Originality/value This paper contributes to a discourse on terrorism financing in the Malaysian context.

Islamic Financial System Epidemic

The global financial and ensuing economic crises have had negative impacts on a majority of firms, businesses, countries and indeed, the society. The traditional and capitalist way of financing has been criticised for its failure; thus, the consumer has started to move towards an ethical and sustainable form of finance. Islamic finance, which already existed by the period is said to be the panacea to the global crisis. It is being presented that Islamic finance may pose as the remedy in curbing economic ills. How true is this? Over the period of more than 40 years since Islamic finance was first introduced, the main players and regulators discuss pertinent issues to the development of the Islamic finance industry. Bankers and lawyers were vocal about the need for education and more regulatory upheavals in order to create a level playing field for Islamic finance, as well as propagate Islamic banking products to a wider clientele. This paper discusses a series of financial crises and the outbreak of Islamic financial system. The Islamisation of the conventional financial system in Malaysia is highlighted. We conclude that there is room for improvement, and there also is prominent untapped potential in non-bank financial institutions.

Influence of Cooperative Members' Participation and Gender on Performance

Though its origin can be traced to the private sector, corporate governance is applicable to cooperatives which are a form of corporation. Thus, cooperatives too face issues associated with governance. Moreover, agency theory argues that the board of directors plays a crucial role in protecting shareholders’ interests. Directors of cooperatives who act as agents to their members play a significant function linking managers’ actions to the interests of their members and customers. Good and effective governance help to enhance the financial performance and sustainability of the cooperatives. The success of a cooperative depends on the degree of participation of its members. This paper aims to examine the association between cooperative governance in terms of members’ participation and gender (male composition of the board), and cooperative performance. The study examined the annual reports from 2008 to 2012 of 34 cooperatives in Malaysia. It was found that male directors dominated the board of cooperatives in Malaysia. The relationship between male composition of the board and cooperative performance was insignificant. The mean of members’ participation (attendance of directors at board meetings) was found to be high but it did not have any significant association with cooperative performance. The scope of analysis in this study was limited by the data set available. Further research on the influence of governance on cooperative performance can be explored in the future by looking at other governance characteristics via interviews or/and with the use of questionnaire survey. Keyword: cooperative, governance, cooperative governance, performance

The impact of ownership structure on stock returns

This paper examines the impact of ownership structure on stock returns of 150 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2008. Ownership structure is characterized by insider ownership and concentrated ownership. Stock return is represented by stock return index. The result showed there is no significant relationship between insider ownership and stock returns. However, there is a significant negative relationship between concentrated ownership and stock returns.