KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has urged the private sector to take a more active role in fighting corruption by not offering bribes.

“If there are no givers, then there will be no takers. Therefore, my message to those in the private sector is to stop giving bribes. Even if the public sector is soliciting from the private sector, don’t give,” its director of forensic division Datuk IG Chandran said yesterday at the 2014 CPA Congress’ second plenary session on “Driving a Competitive Future”.

“Corporations must be prepared to lose some business contracts if they find elements of corruption. In the end, ethical principle must prevail,” he said.

The panel was moderated by The Edge Media Group publisher and chief executive officer Ho Kay Tat. The other two panellists were AMMB Holdings Bhd group managing director Ashok Ramamurthy and Monash University Malaysia head of marketing discipline Associate Professor Brian Low.

Chandran also noted the absence of guidelines to deal with corruption under Bursa Malaysia’s Listing Requirements.

“There is a part on corporate governance [in the Listing Requirements], but nowhere does it talk about corruption,” he said.

Chapter 15 of Bursa’s Listing Requirements outlines corporate governance practices covering conduct of the board of directors, auditors, disclosure and internal audit.

Chandran also pointed out to the lack of disclosure of anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies and measures in the annual reports of most public-listed companies (plcs).

He said multinational corporations should also adopt a no-gift policy to prevent bribery, citing Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) as an example. “Petronas has introduced the no-gift policy at its office ... this year saw no gifts being sent nor received.”

Chandran also lambasted certain plcs for having the tendency to cover up corruption cases in a bid to protect their image.

“A lot has a lot to do with the company’s leadership [on managing anti-corruption practices]. Many companies suppress information on corruption cases as they do not want to taint their image,” he said, adding that some bankers and lawyers are among culprits facilitating the corruption process.

“They are the ones who orchestrate and design the documents which actually get the money flow,” he added.

To date, the MACC has received about 12,000 to 14,000 complaints, of which 1,000 have been labelled “pursuable investigations”, which means that those cases have strong and credible evidence.

On another note, Ashok said he is “optimistic” about the growth of the local banking sector, amid challenges in terms of talent retention, and training and technology investments.

“The strategy now is to retain the best talent in the industry, especially those with entrepreneurial skills that can drive the bank to the next level. Employees are after all, the company’s best assets,” Ashok said.

He also pointed out to the importance of making investments in the latest technology as customers nowadays transact across multiple channels seamlessly.
 

Meanwhile, Ho said proficiency in the English language is one of the key factors to drive competition to the next level. “As an example, the main criteria that I look at when interviewing potential candidates is their proficiency in the English language. It will be hard to remain competitive if their proficiency is not up to par,” he said.
 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 10, 2014.