In respect of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence, auditing works have become too complicated in the way auditors are burdened with so many changes of standards. The complexity of IFRS adoption is mainly attributable to certain standards that have received considerable criticism from the preparers and the auditors due to their ambiguous measurement and recognition. As FRS 138 is a new IFRS in Malaysia, and the accounting treatment for intangible assets are the most controversial and complex issue in the financial reporting field (Lhaopadchan, 2010), there is a question of whether FRS 138 adoption in Malaysia would affect audit efficiency. Hence, this study aims to examine the relationship between the adoption of FRS 138 on the timely issuance of audit report. The final sample consists of 2,440 firm-year observations. The panel regression analysis reveals a significant positive relationship between FRS 138 adoption and audit delay. The result proves that FRS 138 is a complex standard that takes the auditor more time to audit.

Purpose This paper aims to provide an empirical analysis of the effects of regulatory enforcement and customer risk determinants on money laundering risk judgment. The study further explores the moderating impact of regulatory enforcement on compliance officers in the banking and money service business (MSB) sectors. The analysis is conducted to find the important factors that contribute to the issues of risk judgement among compliance officers to establish effective anti-money laundering (AML) and countering financing of terrorism compliance at the financial institutions, as highlighted in the National Risk Assessment Report 2017 by the Central Bank of Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach An experimental study with four different scenarios of case studies distributed to 124 compliance officers at the banking and MSB sectors was conducted via online platforms. The paper uses a quantitative approach via structural equation modelling. Findings The result shows a significant effect of customer risk determinants and regulatory enforcement on money laundering risk judgement, taking into account competency as the control measure. A further test on the interaction effects of both determinants shows a significant result on the money laundering risk judgement. The empirical evidence indicated that regulatory enforcement influenced compliance officers’ money laundering risk judgement and suspicious transaction report submission. In other words, the banking and MSB sectors’ AML compliance significantly depends on the regulators’ enforcement activity. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to two independent variables: regulatory enforcement and customer risk determinants. Future studies may consider other factors affecting compliance officers’ money laundering risk judgement, such as technical competency, knowledge management, digitalization and technology and ethical issues. Practical implications This study provides several theoretical and practical implications. Emphasizing the excellent quality of judgement and, eventually, good quality of reporting the suspicious transactions will not be achieved merely from enforcing fines and punishment, but comprehensive measures must be taken. Increasing the competency and training, educating the compliance officers, supporting the industry and practitioners with incentives and digitalization, enhancing the campaign and awareness among the public and standardizing the policy shall be the good initiatives for the regulatory enforcement to establish. Originality/value This paper provides a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge and fulfills the significant gaps in the literature on money laundering, not to mention, the integration between behavioural studies and anti-money laundering compliance, which has scarcely been statistically evident from the research studies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual discussion and analysis of the Covid-19 impact on financial crime and regulatory compliance. The analysis is conducted to make a comparison of the financial crime and regulatory compliance patterns before and after the Covid-19 pandemic occurred. Design/methodology/approach This paper contextualises the impact of Covid-19 on financial crime and regulatory compliance. Moreover, this paper explores different ways of conceptualising the Covid-19 impacts in terms of financial crimes and regulatory compliance patterns based on the surveys by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte. Findings The Covid-19 pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities to financial crime and regulatory compliance. In the aspects of financial crime patterns, this study found a reduction in physical crime whilst on the other hand increment in cybercrime. Nevertheless, this study discovered regulatory compliance not at a satisfactory stage even before the Covid-19 pandemic, let alone during the pandemic. Practical implications This study implies that the financial institutions must work together to combat the risks of financial crimes, not only amongst the institutions but also with the regulators. Digitalisation and robust risk management need to be improved at a massive level to beat the criminals’ high fintech skills and systems. The initiatives of fund packages from the governments to assist the companies especially the small firms need to be fully used by the companies to improve regulatory compliance. Originality/value Whilst some studies discussed the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, there are still scarce resources on the comparative analysis on the financial crime and regulatory compliance, not to mention the before and after effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the first paper to integrate the issues surrounding the Covid-19 impact, financial crimes and regulatory compliance in Malaysia.

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The importance of entrepreneurial role in supporting the country's economic growth has been recognized by experts in the field of entrepreneurship. Today the importance of entrepreneurship has become increasingly important where it has turned into a priority for developing countries including Malaysia. Now, there are many higher educational institutions that are aware of the importance of applying entrepreneurial skills in higher education. Therefore, public universities have to implement entrepreneurship education to encourage students to venture into entrepreneurship. This study examined the effects of entrepreneurship education in influencing business performance among ITM/UiTM graduates. A total of 250 graduates from various businesses in Malaysia participated voluntarily in this study by completing survey questionnaires. A series of statistical analysis were applied including descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regressions analysis using the SPSS software. The results of the study indicate that university curriculum, relational factor, society factor, and entrepreneurship values were found to have significant influences on business performance. However, the results revealed that the university role has no significant influence on business performance. The findings of this study contribute to entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship literature by adding new empirical evidence on the relationship between university curriculum, relational factors, society factor, and entrepreneurship values on business performance. In terms of managerial implications, the findings help HEI’s in organizing entrepreneurship education dimensions, particularly in strategizing, marketing, decision making, and positioning themselves in the business industry.   Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, Business performance, Entrepreneurship values, University curriculum, University role, Relational factors, Society factor.