MORE COMPREHENSIVE: Sime to be first public-listed company in country to adopt new approach, says Najib
THE government has taken a step further in realising the adoption of integrated reporting (IR) among local public-listed companies (PLCs).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Securities Commission (SC) is working closely with the professionals and the industry on the matter, which will help boost the culture of sustainabilitywithin corporate Malaysia.
“I’m pleased to share with you that Sime Darby Bhd will be adopting IR by 2016, making it the first company in Malaysia to do so,” he said during his speech at the Business Leaders Dialogue Session, here, yesterday.
The event was organised by the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department and the SC.
IR is a new approach towards corporate reporting and provides a more comprehensive overview of organisations, helping all stakeholders — from management to investors — to make better-informed decisions.
It involves the disclosure of the company’s commitment to the environmental, social and governance agenda, given the rising trend of socially-responsible investing.
In December last year, the International Integrated Reporting Council launched the framework on IR to prepare PLCs for the adoption of this form of corporate reporting.
Forty corporate leaders representing the country’s top PLCs and government-linked investment companies attended the dialogue.
Also present were Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar and Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh and SC chairman Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh.
Corporate leaders lauded the government’s call for the adoption of IR by PLCs, saying that more companies have taken serious efforts on the this matter.
Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) said IR is an important element in corporate reporting.
“FGV has taken steps to implement it. We are doing our internal harmonisation of the reporting mechanism and we should be ready by 2016,” said FGV group president and chief executive officer (CEO) Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah.
“We fully support this as it provides the shareholders with a much clearer perspective of the company and makes the company more transparent and accountable,” he added.
TM group CEO and managing director Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said: “For the next annual report to be published in 2015, it is encouraged that all PLCs come up with an integrated reporting and we have started doing it already”.
Ranjit said while IR will not be made a mandatory, the regulatory body will continue its efforts in encouraging all PLCs to adopt it.
“As of now, there is no plan to make IR mandatory for all PLCs,” he told Business Times on the sidelines of the dialogue.