This paper focuses on the corporate governance reforms in Malaysia since the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis. Drawing upon ten in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with leading players who were highly involved in Malaysia's corporate governance development, together with a review of the literature in this area, the paper offers evidence on the meaning of corporate governance in the Malaysian context, the factors behind the recent reforms and views on the appropriate corporate governance system for Malaysia. While it is shown that Malaysia's corporate governance reforms has modelled on the Anglo-American systems to a large extent, the majority of the interviewees placed greater emphasis on the social aspect of corporate governance in contrast to the traditional notion of shareholder accountability. The main concern raised in the paper is that without changes in the previous problematic corporate culture, the intended purpose of the recent corporate governance reforms will unlikely to be achieved. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A research paper that seeks to stimulate debates about contemporary auditing practices. Approach: The paper builds a generalised theory of auditing to pose some questions about the basic auditing model, notions of audit quality and the possibility that some transactions cannot be audited in the traditional way. Findings: It is argued that the basic auditing model is flawed since it makes auditors financially dependent on companies. The conventional approach to 'audit quality' is also incomplete as it pays little attention to the organisational and social context of auditing. It also argues that as companies have diversified into new forms of investment and complex financial instruments, some transactions may be not be capable of being audited in the traditional way. Research limitations: The paper does not offer a comprehensive critique of contemporary auditing issues. Rather is a focus on some selected issues. Practical implications: The paper encourages reflections on contemporary practices and offers some suggestions for reforms. Originality: The paper is a combination of theory, evidence and speculation on contemporary issues.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to understand the roles of corporate governance reforms in Malaysia following the 1997/1998 Asian crisis from the perspectives of corporate managers.Design/methodology/approach -The primary evidence used is drawn from a series of indepth semi-structured interviews with Malaysian corporate managers involved in the overseeing of the governance structures within their companies.Findings -This study shows that most interviewees believed that an appropriate corporate governance system could play a role in resolving the problems associated with the interlocking and concentrated corporate ownership structure in Malaysia. However, the effectiveness of the corporate governance reforms in dealing with this issue is questionable. It also reveals that Malaysian companies 'changed' their corporate governance practices predominantly to recover (foreign) investor confidence lost during the crisis and to fulfil the legal requirements enforced by the government, where the latter was under pressure from the international community (especially, the World Bank and IMF) to 'improve' the Malaysian corporate governance practices after the crisis.Originality/value of paper -This paper adds to the literature on corporate governance, especially in the context of developing countries. Prior research investigating corporate governance issues in developing countries has been limited, particularly the lack of in-depth examination of corporate governance practices from the perspectives of corporate managers. This paper will be of great value to researchers and practitioners seeking to gain a better understanding of the roles of corporate governance in Malaysia.

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