Graduate qualities and selection criteria in Malaysian financial institutions

The issue of unemployed graduates in Malaysia has triggered a widely concern not only to the government but also to the higher education institutions and employers.In response to this issue, this research attempts to investigate what are the criteria that financial institutions in Malaysia actually seek from graduates to fill job vacancies in their organisation, and what are the shortcomings that they usually find in local university graduates particularly Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) graduates.A total of 167 questionnaires have been sent to the human resource manager of each financial institution.The results show that the foremost criterion that financial institutions seek from graduates is pleasant appearance, followed by good CGPA and lastly relevant experience.This research also attempts to identify major skills needed from graduate to be the respondents’ employee.The findings highlight that good communication skills in English, interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, critical thinking skills, and English writing skills are indeed the essential skills needed from graduates.This research finding also discovered that the main weaknesses of UUM graduates are poor in English communication skills and English writing skills

The impact of ringgit de-pegging on the Malaysian capital market

The sudden announcement on July 21 2005 by the Central Bank of Malaysia to dismantle the pegging of Malaysian ringgit against US Dollar caused a stir in the Malaysian financial market.This announcement was unexpected as Malaysia has implemented de-pegging almost seven years since September 1998.This policy change motivates us to measure statistically the announcement impact of de-pegging of Ringgit, to investigate its effects on the various sectors of the economy and accordingly, to identify the sectors most significantly affected by the change from the Ringgit fixed rate to floating rate system.Further investigation is conducted to compare between the Malaysian market’s reaction to the announcement and other international stock markets such as the stock markets of its trading partners. Selected Malaysian economic variables such as interest rate and exchange rate are tested to determine its relationship with the market return.Statistical tools such as descriptive statistic, Single Index Market Model, correlation and cointegration technique are used in the analysis.Our findings indicate that the investors and overall market responded favorably to the move by the Malaysian government to untie the pegging of RM3.80 to USD1.The announcement resulted in positive raw return and a positive abnormal return of 1.93% and 2.31% respectively. Our result also indicate that the sector that is most effected by the de-pegging is the finance sector which recorded positive raw and adjusted returns of 2.12% and 0.56% respectively.In contrast plantation sector recorded negative raw and adjusted return of -0.5% and -2.05% respectively.We note that Malaysian stock market is less vulnerable to movement of other stock markets such as S&P 500, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Philippine and Bangkok during the pegging period. However, Malaysian interest rate is negatively correlated with six out of nine countries with the correlation to US interest rate being the lowest at -0.6481.In contrast it is positively correlated with its trading partners after de-pegging.Overall we find that the continuing support of the investors reflect that it is a good policy decision for Malaysia to move from fixed exchange rate regime to a managed floating rate regime where the Ringgit can find its true value

Legal and shariah issues in partnership law concerning Musharakah/Mudarabah venture capital practised by Islamic financial institutions in Malaysia

lslamic banking has gained its foothold in Malaysia since the early 1980s. Ever since its establishment, various lslamic banking products have been introduced and practised in Malaysia.One of the products is lslamic partnership product of venture capital facility using Musharakah or Mudarabah. It is a trite practice that for lslamic banking product to be legal and shariah compliant, the product must fulfill the requirements of the shariah (Islamic law) and Malaysian law.Under the Malaysian law, Partnership Act 1961 (Act 135)('PA1) governs the creations and existence of all partnership undertakings.However, there is no corresponding statute which controls the creations of lslamic partnership products including the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital.Pursuant to the provisions under the Civil Law Act 1956 (Act 67)(Revised - 1972), unless there is a written law, the applicable law for states in Malaysia for the partnership undertaking is the law of England as that enforced in 1956 (for states in Malaya), 1951 (for Sabah) and 1949 (for Sarawak).As there is a written law on partnership viz the PA, then the PA, being the written law, will be the governing law.The issue is this: Does Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital, being an Islamic partnership, likewise subject to the PA? There is nothing in the PA to indicate that Islamic Partnership falls under it.Nevertheless, the lslamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 759)('IFSA1) provides that all lslamic banking products must comply with Shariah (Islamic Law). Hence, Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital must comply with the requirements of the Shariah to become a shariah compliant product.But, how if Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital does not comply with the requirements of the PA? Will this not affect the validity of Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital and thus it cannot be enforceable in the Malaysian court of law? This paper will highlight the intricacies and issues in the provisions of the existing PA with regard to the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital.The research methodology of this paper is a hybrid of shariah and legal research methods.The authors will also provide some suggestions in dealing with the intricacies and issues to warrant the validity of the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital, both in the law and shariah perspectives