Qualified audit reports of local authorities in the northern states of Malaysia

The reliability of information presented in the financial reports of local authorities is of utmost importance to enable the public to measure their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in using public resources. The task to provide such an assurance lies with the Auditor General, who has been entrusted to enforce the auditing compliance regulations. A certificate in the form of “unqualified,” “qualified,” “adverse,” or “disclaimer” accompanied by a report on the financial affairs of the local authorities concerned will be issued after the Auditor General completes the audit of the local authorities’ financial statements. Our study on 14 local authorities comprising municipal and district councils in the Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah and Penang found that the Qualified Certificate is the common type of audit certificate issued to the local authorities concerned during the period 1997-2001(inclusive of both years). Discrepancies in “Fixed Assets Register” ranked first among the audit incidents that led towards non-compliance to the audit procedures. This was followed by discrepancies in “Other Receivables” and “Cash Flow Statements” which ranked second and third positions respectively. Our finding also shows that size does not grant any advantage to the bigger local authority in reducing the number of audit incidents

Developing mandatory disclosure index (MDI) of financial statement in Malaysian local government

The objective of this study is to develop a mandatory disclosure index (MDI) of financial statements for local government in Malaysia.The method for developing the MDI is based on the legal and regulatory requirements and related literature.This study adopted the procedure suggested by Gore (2002), Hooks et al.(2003) and Coy and Dixon (2004) in developing the index. The MDI is a simple index using a list of items that has been identified.This study presents 63 items considered as mandatory disclosure requirements based on three main sources consisting of law which includes the Local Government Act (1976), the Statutory Bodies (1980) and Audit Act (1957); rules and guidelines outlined in TC No. 15/1994; and Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB). The study is limited by the incomplete financial statements supplied which caused it to be removed from the sample.Further study could be done regarding the measurement of financial statements quality based on the method of disclosure index, the assessment on the level of quality of financial statements, the determination of the quality of published financial statements and factors that influence the quality of local governments’ financial statements in Malaysia

Study of the career motivators of accounting students in UUM

This study profiling the career drivers of final-year accounting students at Universiti Utara Malaysia. Specifically, the study identifies what an accounting students is looking for in a career. Comparative examinations of the career drivers are performed by the gender and race. The career driver scores of accounting and non-accounting students are also compared. The results suggest the presence of statistically significant differences between male and female accounting students in the career drivers of power/influence and security. When bumiputra and non-bumiputra setting is used as a basis of comparison, there are statistically significant differences among the accounting students in the areas of status and search for meaning. Accounting and non-accounting students exhibit differences in the career drivers of material rewards, power/influence, search for meaning, expertise, autonomy and security at a statistically significant level of p<0.05. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed

An empirical comparison of sustainable and responsible investment sukuk, social impact bonds and conventional bonds

Purpose – The objectives of this paper are two-fold: first, to empirically compare and contrast the salient features of three financial instruments (FIs), namely sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) sukuk, social impact bonds (SIBs) and conventional bonds (CBs) and second, to examine the differences between the perceptions of the investors and the developers on the features of the three FIs. Design/methodology/approach – Using a questionnaire survey, 251 completed and useable responses were received, representing a 42.54% response rate. In examining the differences and similarities in the characteristics of the three FIs, the inferential statistical of frequency and percentage were used. Wilcoxon test and Mann–Whitney tests were conducted to investigate the differences in the salient features of the three FIs and the differences between the investors and developers’ perceptions on the salient features of SRI, SIBs and CBs, respectively. Findings – The results reveal that stakeholders view SRI Sukuk, SIBs and CBs to be statistically significantly different from each other. This shows that stakeholders do not view SRI sukuk as “old wine in a new Shariah compliant bottle” but instead considered different from SIBs and CBs. Furthermore, stakeholders also differentiate between SIBs and CBs. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical evidence that Islamic finance (IF) instrument, represented by SRI sukuk, is viewed as different instruments to conventional tools, represented by SIBs and CBs. First, it debunks the notion that IF is viewed as similar to its conventional counterpart. Second, SIBs are seen as different from CBs, illustrating the distinct categorisation of impact investing instruments. As such, third, the development of SRI sukuk and SIBs can provide diversification to portfolios as it is a unique instrument in the social finance and financial market

Achieving the maqasid of Islamic finance through Social Impact Bonds (SIB) and Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk

This paper looks into the underlying principles of Social Impact Bond (SIB) and Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk as compared to the values embodied within maqasid al-Shari‘ah and maslahah. Through a critical review of literature related to SIB, SRI sukuk, maqasid al-Shari'ah and maslahah, the paper attempts to delineate the elements embedded within these financial tools from an Islamic perspective. The paper explicates that SIB and SRI sukuk are financial mechanisms that epitomises the ethical and moral framework of the Shari‘ah as their underlying principles are congruent with the concepts within maqasid al-Shari'ah and maslahah. Thus, the SIB and SRI sukuk models should be given more attention by Islamic banks and Islamic financial institutions whose philosophical foundation is built upon the principles of maqasid al-Shari'ah and maslahah

Old wine in a shariah-compliant bottle?: an empirical comparison of SRI sukuk, social impact bonds, and conventional bonds

Purpose – The Islamic finance and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Industries have grown significantly in recent times with growth rates exceeding the conventional markets. Both industries arguably share similarities in terms of their objectives. Following this, there are ongoing contentions that Islamic finance instruments simply replicate conventional tools. This paper addresses this issue by empirically comparing three instruments: Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), and conventional bonds (CB). Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used is a comparative approach in looking into the similarities and differences of the three financial instruments. This is done qualitatively through a critical review of literature and quantitatively through data obtained from a survey conducted towards stakeholders in Malaysia Findings – The qualitative analysis finds that SRI sukuk, SIB, and conventional bonds shares commonalities but also differences. At the same time, the quantitative analyses of the show that generally, stakeholders view SRI Sukuk, SIB, and CB to be statistically significantly different from each other. This shows that stakeholders do not view SRI sukuk as "old wine in a new Shariah-compliant bottle" but instead is considered to be different from its conventional counterparts. Furthermore, stakeholders also differentiate between SIB and CB. Practical implications – The paper provides empirical evidence that Islamic finance instrument, represented by SRI sukuk, is viewed as different instruments to conventional tools, represented by SIB and CB. As such, firstly, it debunks the notion that Islamic finance are viewed as similar to its conventional counterpart. Secondly, SIBs are seen as different from CBs, illustrating the distinct categorisation of impact investing instruments. As such, thirdly, the development of SRI sukuk and SIB can provide diversification to portfolios as it is a unique instrument in the social finance and financial market. Research limitations/implications – The paper is empirical, but the scope is limited to stakeholders in Malaysia. Further empirical studies can be done to other stakeholders around the world. Furthermore, other factors can be put into consideration to enhance the empirical analysis

Optimal power dispatch of hybrid PV/diesel systems using heuristic bio-inspired algorithms

Generally due to the strategic equatorial region, Malaysia is advancing into solar energy as a replacement of alternative source for an electrical energy production to meet the escalation load demand. Thus, the integrated hybrid system like PVGenset set system are developed to generate power to meet load demand where it can be fitted into its local geography and others according to specification. However, this does not guarantee the hybrid system to generate power optimally as weather conditions (solar insolation, temperature and others) changes periodically and influence the power generation and the power dispatch to the load. Therefore, the hybrid system does not operate at the optimal state and without a proper dispatching controller it may lead to over stress one or the other hybrid system component causes frequent wear and tear with higher maintenance cost to the system. In order to curb this situation, the hybrid system requires a specific approach along with a controller to search and to dispatch the hybrid PV-Genset system generated power at the best potential optimal state. A Bio-Heuristic approach can be applied to determine the optimal power generation while a dispatch controller dispatches the electric hybrid power system to the load demand. The aim of this research is to implement the selected bio-heuristic approach such as Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) while Fuzzy Logic is used as a dispatch controller for a small scale hybrid PV-Genset system. The simulation of the hybrid PV-Gertset system modelling is simulated using two types of tropical weather conditions (sunny and rainy). From this research, simulation results are obtained and series of analysis is conducted using MATLAB/SlMULINK. Through the analysis, results have shown the contribution of each hybrid system component operates at the optimum level while power is dispatch to the load based on the hybrid system capability

Qualified Audit Reports of Local Authorities in the Northern States of Malaysia

The reliability of information presented in the financial reports of local authorities is of utmost importance to enable the public to measure their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in using public resources. The task to provide such an assurance lies with the Auditor General, who has been entrusted to enforce the auditing compliance regulations. A certificate in the form of “unqualified,” “qualified,” “adverse,” or “disclaimer” accompanied by a report on the financial affairs of the local authorities concerned will be issued after the Auditor General completes the audit of the local authorities’ financial statements. Our study on 14 local authorities comprising municipal and district councils in the Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah and Penang found that the Qualified Certificate is the common type of audit certificate issued to the local authorities concerned during the period 1997-2001(inclusive of both years). Discrepancies in “Fixed Assets Register” ranked first among the audit incidents that led towards non-compliance to the audit procedures. This was followed by discrepancies in “Other Receivables” and “Cash Flow Statements” which ranked second and third positions respectively. Our finding also shows that size does not grant any advantage to the bigger local authority in reducing the number of audit incidents.