Does the Factors Affecting Gold Price Changed During Covid-19 Period in Malaysia?

This paper examines whether Covid-19 pandemic has changed the main economy factors affecting gold prices, and the relationship between KLCI and gold price in Malaysia. Gold plays an important role in an economy during normal and uncertain market situations. This research involved 62 monthly data covering the period of January 2016 to February 2021. Unit root and diagnostic tests are conducted on the data to ensure the results are valid. There are six macroeconomic variables involved, five of them are the independent variables and the remaining one is dependent variable. Multiple regression time series analysis is use to analyse the data in the perspectives of full sample, pre- Covid-19 period and during Covid-19 period. The results of this study found that few main economy factors ceased to be significant, and there is change relationship direction between exchange rate and gold price during Covid-19 period. We discovered KLCI has an inverse relationship with gold price. Future research can consider extending our analysis to neighbouring countries

The Determinants of Environmental Disclosures of Public Listed Firms in Malaysia

Determining environmental disclosure is important because it promotes corporate transparency, ensures accountability for environmental impacts, and aids stakeholders in making informed decisions. The objective of this study is to investigate the link between specific firm attributes and environmental disclosure. A final sample of this study consists of 429 Malaysian public listed firms in the year 2016. Data on firm size, profitability, leverage and disperse share ownership were obtained from Eikon database while dependent variable which is environmental disclosure and other variables such as environmental management systems (EMS), age and auditor type were manually collected from firm annual reports. The environmental disclosure is measure based on 11 environment related-words highlighted which are energy or electric, water, biodiversity, emission, effluent, waste, recycle, reuse, spill, environmental impacts and ISO 14001. The regression results show that firm size, industry type, EMS and disperse share ownership are significantly influence environmental disclosures. This study proves that certain firm characteristics, coupled with good corporate governance mechanisms, can motivate firms to provide environmental disclosures. Further research proposes using alternative proxies for environmental disclosure to examine its relationship with foreign associations, brand awareness, firm value, and the cost of financing, which could offer new insights into environmental disclosure practices

10th International Borneo Business Conference 2022 "Diversification of Economy and Business Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges"

The theme of this conference is "Diversification of Economy and Business Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges". In line with the support for the Malaysian government's efforts in ensuring the diversity of sources of Malaysian economic growth as well as the Sarawak state government's committed efforts especially in realizing the economic transformation at the state level to a digital economy and business sustainability, this theme was chosen to generate ideas and enable critical and analytical discussion. based on empirical studies on issues such as the financial and economic crisis that have a profound impact on global trade, finance and the economy. The scope of the conference will cover the business and economic aspects of Borneo in general and the global world in general. Topics of discussion include economic diversification, business sustainability, regional economy (BIMP-EAGA), energy economy based on renewable energy (hydrogen economy), digital economy and business, e-commerce, internet marketing, global financial management, global economy and business, global marketing, Islamic economics and finance, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and so on

DOES AUDIT COMMITTEE MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT DURING INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF MFRS IN MALAYSIA?

This paper presents an evaluation of auditor independence concerns against the backdrop of current Malaysian corporate financial scandals by examining the relationship between auditor independence and earnings management, and the role of audit committees in overseeing auditor independence. The study used 1,035 firm-year data in the main market of Bursa Malaysia from 2012 to 2014 and employed multivariate regression analyses. The results revealed that when non-audit fees and total fees were higher, it could reduce the auditor’s independence as higher fees can create economic dependency on his clients. This study found that audit committee size and the frequency of meetings were positively related to earnings management. When testing the audit committee moderation on auditor independence, the study found that audit committee size and its frequency of meetings weaken the positive relationships between lower auditor independence and earnings management. These findings help regulators and professional bodies think about the impact of audit and NAS fees on auditor independence and the audit committee's oversight responsibility. To assess auditor independence, companies should form a fully independent audit committee in accordance with the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance 2021 (Securities Commission of Malaysia, 2021)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure and Tax Planning: A Study on Malaysian Listed Companies

CSR Disclosure is widely practiced for effective decision making and top management of tax planning in a business. The main objective of this research is to determine the CSR disclosure influence on tax planning in Malaysia listed companies as well as examine the relationship between tax planning and other factors influencing such as profitability, company size, leverage, effective tax rate (ETR) and book tax differences (BTDs). A sample of 557 companies from Malaysia’s listed companies for the period of 2014 to 2016 was collected and analysed. After controlling such as profitability, company size and leverage the regression results display tax planning has positive relationship respectively in BTDs. The first impact of polices makers is companies may use CSR activities to avoid negative impact irresponsibility engaging tax planning. Second, tax incentives given to public companies reduce Malaysia’s government burden to support the public and promote companies’ growth