scholarly journals The Trend of CSR Disclosures and the Role of Corporate Governance Attributes: The Case of Shari'ah Compliant Companies in Malaysia

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Abdifatah Ahmed Haji

This study examines the trend of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures and the role of corporate governance attributes in the CSR disclosures of Shari’ah compliant companies (ShCCs) in Malaysia for the years 2006 and 2009, a period which corresponds before and after a plethora of significant changes in Malaysia, encompassing the recent financial crisis and policy changes in the form of corporate governance restructuring. Using a CSR disclosure checklist, the extent and quality of CSR discourses of a sample of 76 ShCCs was examined. The results indicate that the extent and quality of CSR disclosures by the ShCCs is in overall low. However, there was a significant increasing trend in both the extent and quality of the CSR disclosures by the ShCCs over time. results of this study offer a number of practical implications. First, whilst the findings reveal a significant increasing trend of CSR information subsequent to the policy changes and the recent financial crisis, the CSR information was however not systematically provided, with most of the disclosures being stated in a narrative form. Hence, the policy makers in Malaysia may want to re-enforce the mandatory requirement of CSR information and provide a detailed CSR framework for the companies to follow such as "what" and "how" the CSR information should be disclosed. Second, the role of corporate governance attributes in the social disclosures of the ShCCs did not improve following the revised code, perhaps due to the unfolding recent global financial turmoil which may have undermined the effectiveness of the corporate governance attributes. <br />Finally, this study offers the first empirical study to have assessed the trend of CSR disclosures and the role of governance attributes in CSR disclosure practices by the ShCCs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed Khan

This article examines the role of Islamic Law in convergence to western corporate governance features in Pakistan. The recent financial crisis in the world highlighted the importance of good corporate governance features. This phenomenon highlighted the possibility of adopting an alternative to conventional financial system in Pakistan. Islamic finance has shown its presence in the wake of financial crisis in the world. Therefore, this articles analyses, in comparative perspective, the Islamic financial system viz a viz conventional financial system. It further analyses the possibility of convergence of corporate governance mechanism, which is key for good governance in any financial system, in Pakistan. It concludes that Islamic Financial System may be adopted as alternative financial system as well as corporate governance mechanism may be converged to western corporate governance features in Pakistan. However, while doing so Islamic norms may act as a litmus test which may not be as problematic as it appears at first sight.


Author(s):  
Alev Dilek Aydin

This study aims to assess the role of accounting and auditing in the recent financial crisis. After each crisis, there have been serious discussions concerning the reasons behind those crises. However, no consensus has yet been achieved until now. In this context, the analysis of the relationships among financial crisis, accounting, and auditing is of utmost importance in better evaluating the structural reasons behind the crisis. There are several points that this chapter aims to analyze to indicate the contributions of accounting and auditing to the recent global financial crisis. These points are: impacts of disregarding the main principles of accounting, the wide use of fair value accounting over cost-based accounting, incorrect and misleading financial and audit reports, applications of creative accounting, and lack of transparency and weaknesses of the auditing process. The debates generally concentrate on the use of fair value (mark-to-market) accounting in the financial reports as opposed to the historical cost method. It should be emphasized that accounting is very important as a key mechanism of market economies, because of its crucial role in the functioning of the markets in accordance with the public interest. The chapter concludes with several suggestions by taking the fact into consideration that accounting and auditing systems should be revised for the better protection of interests of the third parties such as investors, potential investors, and the state.


Author(s):  
Helmut K. Anheier ◽  
Christoph M. Abels

In a broad sense, corporate governance describes the mechanisms, relations, and processes through which the interests of a corporation’s stakeholders are balanced. Yet, corporate governance is not limited to companies but can be found in international organisations, philanthropic foundations, and social enterprises, among other organisational forms. This chapter outlines the volume’s comparative approach that highlights the diversity of corporate governance across different forms and fields. Starting with the financial crisis, the chapter discusses the legal foundation of corporate governance regimes and introduces the relevant laws and codes as well as prominent indicators to measure the quality of governance in corporations. Afterwards, the book’s chapters are briefly introduced and connected to the volume’s overarching interest.


Author(s):  
David P. Stowell ◽  
Theron McLarty

Family members knew something was very wrong when Adolf Merckle, who had guided the family holding company, VEM Vermogensverwaltung GmbH, through dozens of successful investments, left the house one afternoon in January 2009 and failed to return. That night their fears were confirmed when a German railway worker located Merckle's body near a commuter train line near his hometown of Blaubeuren, about a hundred miles west of Munich. It was no secret that the recent financial crisis had taken a toll on Merckle's investments. He was known in Germany as a savvy investor, but had lost hundreds of millions of Euros after being caught on the wrong side of a short squeeze of epic proportions involving Volkswagen stock. This was not the only large bet against that company's stock. A number of hedge funds, including Greenlight Capital, SAC Capital, Glenview Capital, Tiger Asia, and Perry Capital, lost billions of Euros in a few hours based on their large short positions in Volkswagen's stock following the news on October 26, 2008, that Porsche AG had obtained a large long synthetic position in Volkswagen stock through cash-settled options. In the next two days, this short squeeze produced a fivefold increase in Volkswagen's share price, as demand for shares from hedge funds exceeded the supply of borrowable shares.This case focuses on the massive equity derivative positions entered into by Porsche in relation to Volkswagen stock and by TCI and 3G in relation to CSX stock. Students will learn how equity exposure can be created without buying stock and without prior disclosure. The role of regulators, courts, and investment banks that facilitate these transactions is also explored.


Author(s):  
Christine Adel ◽  
Mostaq M. Hussain ◽  
Ehab K.A. Mohamed ◽  
Mohamed A.K. Basuony

Purpose This paper aims to report on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in S&P Europe 350 companies. The paper also examines the impact of corporate governance structure and other firm-specific characteristics on the quality of CSR disclosure in European companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a disclosure index adopted from Jizi et al. (2014). Moreover, the paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects introduced by the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.The data of CSR reporting are manually collected from the firms’ reports. The population and sample of this study are related to 350 companies operating in 16 European countries. Tobit regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that directors’ ownership, the presence of a CSR committee and firm size positively affect the quality of CSR reporting. Further testing of the independent variables on each CSR sub-category is made. The CSR sub-categories used are, namely, community involvement, employees, environment, social product and service quality, supply chain sustainability and business ethics. The presence of a sustainability committee inside the company is the only factor that shows a strong positive effect on the disclosure of every CSR sub-category and the CSR inclusive index. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research are that it focuses exclusively on the effect of the internal corporate mechanisms on the quality of CSR reporting; disregarding the economic, institutional, political and cultural factors that can play a role in influencing sustainability reporting of the companies. Practical implications Better CSR disclosure leads to the firm having a better image in the society; this, in turn, has implications on firm performance, attracting funds, as well as recruiting and retaining high profile employees. Stakeholders are placing cumulative significance to corporate transparency particularly in the area of CSR. Managers should exert more efforts into not only improving the disclosure of the various facts of CSR but also into using the various media available for disclosure. Companies should take the initiative of establishing a CSR committee to ensure effective formation and implementation of CSR policies and disclosure of CSR activities. Social implications The CRS research itself bears the merit of social implications. Moreover, the findings of this research pave the way for future researches to examine the effect of the adoption of global CSR initiatives and frameworks on the quality of CSR reporting. Originality/value This paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects of CSR and exploring the relation between the rarely explored “presence of sustainability committee” and CSR disclosure, as well as testing a vast number of CSR sub-categories that is not extensively covered in previous studies. Moreover, the paper covers a large sample of companies across 16 European countries, in terms of their stand-alone sustainability reports, dedicated chapters of CSR in annual reports, integrated reports, website CSR information and any attachments/links provided on the websites for further CSR documents, brochures or data sheets.


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