Mode of Islamic Bank Financing: Does Effectiveness of Shariah Supervisory Board Matter?

<p>This paper examines the relationships between the effectiveness of Shariah supervisory board (SSB), their remuneration and mode of financing Islamic bank. The SSB effectiveness is evaluated by an index based on 9 attributes score. This study comprises 18 Islamic banks in which operating in Malaysia from the year 2012 to 2013 as a sample. Our regression analysis shows that the effectiveness of SSB does not concern with the mode of Islamic bank financing. However, we found that SSB remuneration and bank’s financial growth shown a positive and significant relationship with mode of financing. The implications of these findings are discussed. </p

Students’ attendance at management accounting classes–reasons and the effect on academic performance

This study explores the reasons for non-attendance and what motivates those who attend management accounting classes at undergraduate level of the accounting program and investigate the impact of attendance upon academic performance on the course. The subjects of the research were students in three undergraduate programs of Accountancy Faculty at UiTM Perlis namely Diploma in Accountancy, Diploma in Accounting and Information System and Bachelor of Accountancy who took the highest level of management accounting courses at their respective programs. The total number of students involved was 121 students. A short questionnaire and class attendance records were used for this survey. The highest mean score cited for the reasons students attending management accounting class was ‘to learn, to understand, and to increase their knowledge on the course’. Students’ preoccupation with assignments and study for other tests, and genuine health reasons were ranked highly for reasons non-attendance reasons. A clear positive relationship between attendance and academic performance was evident

The Effectiveness of Risk Management Committee and Hedge Accounting Practices in Malaysia

<p>This study examines the effectiveness of Risk Management Committee (RMC) in influencing hedge accounting practices among non-financial companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia. Our regression results reveal that that there is no significant relationship between the application of hedge accounting and the effectiveness of RMCs. However, there are positive and significant relationships between the choice of hedge accounting and each of company size and leverage. The implications of the findings were discussed.</p

Disclosure of voluntary accounting ratios by Malaysian listed companies

Accounting ratios are believed to be of fundamental importance in financial analysis, and therefore are useful addition to financial reports. This paper examines the reporting of voluntary accounting ratio by Malaysian companies in corporate annual reports. Drawing on agency and signaling theories, this paper explores whether associations exist between company performance and voluntary disclosure of accounting ratios. In particular, associations are tested between the extent of ratio disclosure and company performance (namely profitability, liquidity, leverage, and company efficiency), size and industry. Six hypotheses are tested using data collected from 2003 annual reports of 100 Malaysian listed companies. This paper provides evidence that the extent of voluntary ratio disclosure is low; and size, industry as well as liquidity significantly influence the reporting of ratios in corporate annual reports. The implications of these findings are discussed

Disclosure of Hedging Activities Information and Risk Management Committee Effectiveness: Malaysia Evidence

<p><i>This study examines the extent of information about hedging activities disclosures within the annual reports of Main Market companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. The extent of hedging activities disclosures is captured through a 32-item-template, which consists of a mandatory and voluntary disclosure scores. The results of this study indicate that the extent of information on hedging activities disclosure is still insufficient among the sampled companies even though the disclosure scored is quite high. This study also examines the relationship between the existence of risk management committee (RMC), its characteristics and the extent of information on hedging activities disclosure in two separate statistical models. The regression results imply that the existence of RMC is positive but does not significantly influence the extent of information on hedging activities disclosure.  However its characteristics (i.e. RMC independence and RMC meeting) have a significant influence. </i><i>The findings may provide some meaningful insights to regulators, policymakers and researchers, towards the establishment of RMC as a part of the internal corporate governance mechanisms. In addition to its existence, the effectiveness of RMC also needs to be emphasized.</i><i></i></p

Relationship between macroeconomic variables and Malaysia available Shariah Indices

This paper aims to study the relationship between local and foreign macroeconomic variables and Malaysia available Shariah Indices. In our study, we used the Vector Error Correction (VEC) framework by initially looking at the long run and short run relationship between Malaysia available Shariah indices (i.e. KLSI, FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS Shariah Index and FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index) and the macroeconomic variables via the Johansen cointegration technique. Monthly data during the twenty two-year period (from January 1990 to December 2011) has been collected from DataStream and tested. The findings show positive relationship between the variables from 1990 to 2006. However, mix results were found after the period till 2011. This study then conclude that the standardized set of macroeconomic variables that specified by earlier researchers still can be relied but in careful policy formulation

Digital Presence of Academic Scholars: A Case of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis Branch, Malaysia

<p><i>The advent of Internet has triggered academia to play important roles in scholarly publication activities leading to the use of academic profiling sites for researchers to exchange and share research ideas. However, several studies have claimed that many of the academic scholars especially in Malaysia have remained conservative and have refused to fully acknowledge the real potential of this new gadget. Since there are few written papers on online visibility in Malaysia particularly in academic scholars’ context, the study aims to highlight the extent of online visibility among academic researchers in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Perlis Branch. By examining five common basic online profiling sites (i.e. ResearchGate, Academia, Google Scholar, ResearcherID and ORCID), it was found that only 31.4% of researchers at UiTM, Perlis Branch had at least one profile, the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences were the top two online profiling site users and Google Scholar was the most widely used platform. In terms of the institutional position, Senior Lecturers appeared to be the top users of profiling sites compared to Associate Professors and Lecturers. The implications of these findings were discussed. </i></p

Investment information via website by Malaysian listed companies

Internet technology is believed to improve efficiency and good practice of information dissemination. This paper examined the investment information disclosed by Malaysian Listed Companies via their websites. Evaluations of investment informations disclosure via the websites were based on score towards the disclosure index developed. One hundred companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia's Main Board are selected based on their market capitalization. This study identifies the level of investment information disclosure across industry and found that the investment information disclosure and usage of the multimedia are still unsatisfactory. This study also tests the extent of such disclosure with several firm characteristics (profitability, auditor, efficiency and size) and the result shows that only firm's size is significant. The implications of these findings are discussed

Risk Management Committee and Disclosure of Hedging Activities Information among Malaysian Listed Companies

<p>This paper examines the relationship between Risk Management Committee (RMC) characteristics and the extent of hedging activities disclosure within the annual reports of the Malaysian listed companies. In particular, relationships are tested on RMC size, independence, RMC meeting, RMC gender diversity and RMC training. Our regression analysis shows that RMC independence significantly and negatively influences the extent of hedging activities information disclosure, while RMC meeting positively influences the disclosure. The implications of these findings are discussed. </p