Objective - A rising number of cases involving ethical misconduct within firms have of late received considerable attention in Malaysia. Despite the country's declaring having a strong corporate governance policy, strengthened through the Code of Ethics for Company Directors and Malaysia Code of Corporate Governance, unethical practices, and lack of integrity within firms remain an issue. This paper aims to review the current implementation of corporate ethical conducts among corporate governance practitioners as well as factors that influence corporate ethics commitment in a firm. Methodology/Technique - This paper is developed from extensive readings of previous literature on corporate governance practices and their effect on the quality of financial reports. Findings - This paper discloses collective approaches of corporate ethics practiced in Malaysian firms and how the implementation has enhanced the firms' overall financial reporting quality. It demonstrates current issues and the importance of corporate ethics commitment to enhance financial reporting quality. Firms that emphasize ethical commitments, reduce the risk of financial statement fraud and firms will naturally gain trust from their stakeholders. Novelty - This paper stresses the importance of sound ethical conduct above other factors that influence the financial reporting quality of firms in Malaysia. This paper is the result of extensive research on corporate ethics commitment and financial reporting quality. Type of Paper - Review. Keywords: Corporate Ethics; Corporate Governance; Financial Reporting Quality JEL Classification: G34, M41.
A rising number of cases involving ethical misconduct within firms have of late received considerable attention in Malaysia. Despite the country's declaring having a strong corporate governance policy, strengthened through the Code of Ethics for Company Directors and Malaysia Code of Corporate Governance, the unethical practices and lack of integrity within firms remain an issue. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Malaysia conducted a survey in 2018, it was found that 41 percent of Malaysian registered companies were guilty of committing some forms of economic crimes, specifically business misconduct, asset misappropriation, bribery, and corruption. They added, the actual number may be higher due to many cases of ethical misconduct that typically go unreported. Furthermore, crimes of ethical misconduct in Malaysia have also increased by 28 percent in the last two years. It was revealed taht corporate culture was the most influential element in helping detect early warning signs of ethical misconduct within a firm. A KPMG 2019 report published in the subsequent year also suggested that an unhinged desire for a wealthy lifestyle acts as a prime motivation behind many of the unethical behaviors discovered. Thus, in the light of the increasingly worsening situation of ethical misconduct in Malaysian firms, the need to explore these corporate ethical issues has never become more crucial and appropriate. The ubiquitous nature of the issue has subsequently jeopardized the financial reporting quality of Malaysia's firms. Keywords: Corporate Ethics, Corporate Governance, Earnings Management, Financial Reporting Quality
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