The Development of Auditing Arena and Corporate Governance Landscape in Malaysia: An Initiative to Combat Fraud and Corruptions

Abstract

This research provides two phases of discussions on the evolution in auditing arena and corporate governance (CG) landscape in Malaysia. Phase 1: Pre-Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG) (1957-2000) and Phase 2: Post-Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (2001-2015). MCCG was designed to increase oversight and regulation of the accounting profession and to strengthen CG practices and increase transparency of financial audits. The emergence of audit failures has focused the world’s attention on accounting standards and the role of auditors. The cause of corporate collapse was basically due to lack of professionalism in auditing coupled with scandals on fraud and corruptions. Moreover, the quantum of fraud has increased over the past years in Malaysia and has become more sophisticated. Due to this, the Government has put all the efforts to ensure that audit and CG practices are able to comply with stringent and rigorous standards imposed by the statutory bodies as to enhance audit quality and CG practices in line with international benchmarks. Thus, this paper attempts to analyze the evolution of auditing and CG practices as initiatives taken by the Government of Malaysia in order to combat fraud and corruptions.