This study examines the extent and quality of Sustainability Reporting among Malaysian listed companies after the amendment of listing requirement in October 2015. In addition the study also examines the impact of corporate governance element, which is board diversity on Sustainability Reporting. This study uses content analysis method and independent t-test to accomplish the objectives. The extent and quality of SR among Malaysian listed companies are still low. In addition, it also found that companies that have female-gender board member have significant impact on their SR but not for age and ethnic diversity. Female directors have different way of perceptions, thinking and ideas that could impact companies' sustainability initiatives and reporting. The study contributes to the literature of corporate governance-sustainability by focusing specifically the impact of board diversity on SR.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of audit report lag and its association with governance mechanisms in the Islamic banking institutions in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The extent of audit report lag is defined by the number of days from a company’s financial year-end to the signature date on its audit report. The sample of the study comprises 112 observations of Islamic banking institutions’ financial reports for the period 2008-2014. A balanced panel data analysis is performed to analyse the association between the extent of audit report lag and governance mechanisms. Findings The findings show that the extent of audit report lag for the sample selected ranges from a minimum period of 7 days to a maximum period of 161 days, and the extent of audit report lag is approximately two months on average. A fixed effects analysis indicates that audit committee expertise and audit committee meeting have significant association with the extent of audit report lag. On the other hand, board independence, audit committee size and Shari’ah board expertise have insignificant association with the extent of audit report lag. In addition, one control variable (Islamic bank size) is found to be significantly associated with longer audit report lag. Practical implications The findings provide useful feedback for Malaysian policymakers on the past and current practices of financial reports and of governance mechanisms. The findings of the study would help the policymakers in monitoring the Islamic banking institutions’ compliance with financial reports submission requirements. The policymakers perhaps could relook into governance mechanisms that reduce the extent of audit report lag in the Islamic banking institutions and implement regulations to strengthen them. Originality/value Unlike the majority of prior studies that investigated the association between the extent of audit report lag and governance mechanisms, this study provides two contributions. First, to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first piece of research that examined the association between governance mechanisms and the extent of audit report lag in Islamic banking institutions. Second, the study examined the association of new governance variable, namely, Shari’ah committee expertise which has not been previously examined in the literature of audit report lag.

Independence is the primary justification of the existence, and thus the hallmark of the auditing profession. It is recognized as the primary attribute to be maintained by auditors in all circumstances. This study attempts to explore the determinants of auditor independence as perceived by Malaysian accountants using a self-administered mail survey. It was evidenced from the survey that size of audit fees is the most important factor, followed by competition, size of audit firm, tenure, provision of management advisory service and finally audit committee. More specifically, the study indicates that (1) larger size of audit fees, (2) audit firms operating in a higher level of competitive environments, (3) smaller audit firms, (4) audit firms serving a given client over a longer duration, (5) audit firms providing MAS, and, (6) the non-existence of an audit committee, are perceived as having a higher risk of losing independence. This study provides a basis for the profession to establish policies relating to auditor independence. Also, it may assist policy makers and other relevant international accounting agencies in their attempt towards the international harmonization of auditing standards. The major contribution of this paper is that it supplies recent evidence on factors influencing auditor independence from the viewpoint of Malaysian accountants.

It is a common knowledge that auditors often being offered a position in their clients' firms. However, following the collapse of Enron and other infamous financial scandals like Global Crossing and Waste Management in the US, the accounting profession was brought into sharp focus particularly regarding issues that may affect auditor independence. One of the issues is the practice of auditors seeking employment with their audit clients. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine whether the practice of ex-auditors' employment with audit clients affects perceptions of auditor independence from the perspective of financial statement users in Malaysia.

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Purpose In 2011, the Malaysian cabinet approved the policy that all board of directors of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia should consist of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions by the year 2016. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the presence of women on the board and firms’ performance following the introduction of the diversity policy. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses the information of the top 200 Malaysian public listed companies for the financial year 2011–2013. The multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between the firm performance (return on assets (ROA)) as the dependent variable and the independent variables. Findings The results show that during the period under study, the proportion of women directors on board is negatively correlated with ROA. This indicates that the firm performance may not be dependent on the number of women directors on board. However, the results of the study also show that the academic backgrounds of the women board members add some value toward generating better firm performance. Research limitations/implications A small sample size of only the top 200 public listed companies was utilised. Consequently the outcome may not be generalisable to smaller public companies or private firms. Another limitation is regarding the sample period. Taking only one year before and one year after the policy’s approval may be too short of the period under study and may be too early to study the impact of the policy. Future studies could sample a longer period. Practical implications The findings encourage public listed companies to appoint women with the necessary qualities as members of the board and not to simply increase the number of women on boards. Originality/value There is a lack of work on studying women’s effectiveness on board in developing countries, whereby previous work and literature review were predominantly based upon the experience of Western economies. This study, thus, contributes to the rising literature on women board member representation based on the firm performance of the top 200 listed companies in Malaysia.

This study examines the association between Royal family members on the board of directors and earnings management in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Panel data was sourced from the annual and corporate governance reports of companies listed in two leading markets in the UAE: Abu Dhabi Exchange Security (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Final data resulted in 437 observations for the period from 2011 to 2018. The findings of this study concluded that Royal family members on the board of UAE listed companies is negatively associated with earnings management. This study provides evidence of the role played by elite groups (Royal family members) in the UAE in enhancing the role played by the board of directors. The study also found that board meetings and audit committee meetings are positively associated with earnings management, while audit committee expertise and profitability negatively associated with earnings management. However, board size, board independence, audit committee independence, firm size and firm leverage had insignificant association with earnings management. The paper contributes to the existing theory and empirical evidence of how internal governance mechanisms add value to the company by reducing earnings management and enhancing the quality of financial reporting.

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