Malaysian corporate governance 'comparable to Hong Kong'

Malaysia has made good progress in the development of its corporate governance standards and already equals Hong Kong in some areas, an expert has claimed.

Speaking at a lecture in Kuala Lumpur, Low Chee Keong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said that Malaysia requires greater enforcement to ensure its corporate governance ideals become reality, the Malaysia Star reports.

However, he said that the nation's level of governance is impressive "on paper" and added: "Even in Hong Kong there are gaps in the regulatory framework that need to be rectified."

Mr Low, an associate professor of corporate law, also said that investors should do more research about companies they plan to invest in, rather than relying solely on regulatory frameworks to monitor transparency.

Last month, the Hong Kong Institute of Directors' (HKIoD) Corporate Governance Scorecard 2009 revealed that the accountability of executives in the region increased by 1.44 per cent this year.

Despite this improvement, HKIoD chairman Dr Kelvin Wong urged listed companies in Hong Kong to "work harder yet" to better their standards of governance.