Malaysian Corporate Governance Regulation : Before and after the Asian Financial Crisis

This paper discusses the development of corporate governance regulation in Malaysia, with particular attention being paid to the period before and after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98. It attempts to show that while regulatory oversight of corporate governance was introduced soon after the country’s independence, the pace of regulatory reforms, such as on takeover and mergers, board composition and functions, and other disclosure reporting accelerated from the middle of the 1980s to mid 1990s. It was, however, the Asian Financial Crisis that prompted more resolute reforms. The paper concludes by drawing several observations from the discussion, and opined that the corporate governance regulatory reforms that were introduced immediately before and after the Asian Financial Crisis have contributed to the resilience of the Malaysian corporate sector