KUALA LUMPUR (July 11): Good corporate governance has proven to be one of the attractions to woo foreign investments into Malaysia despite recent issues with public governance, said Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) chief executive officer Datuk Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad.

"Malaysia has its fair share of governance issues. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has come up with its guidelines particularly to address the issue of independence of the board (of directors), which I think is the key issue here. We do realise that quite a number of our listed companies do not have enough independent directors," he told a press conference after the opening of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) Annual Conference today.

The three-day event, which is hosted by KWAP in partnership with the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG), gathers institutional investors from around the world to examine best practices in corporate governance obligations, policies, and processes to enhance overall financial market stability and economic growth.

The conference features speakers from renowned corporate governance champions from around the world, including Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the SC, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and institutional investors from the US, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

ICGN also launches its fourth edition of the Global Governance Principles (GGP) as part of the conference.

"After 2008 (financial crisis), there was a big spotlight on the investment community and since that time, ICGN published our first stewardship principles. In fact, the Malaysian (corporate governance) code draws from many of the principles in the ICGN's code," its executive director Kerrie Waring said.

The revisions in the latest edition of the GGP consist of additions and refinements of the existing principles, which are a framework articulating the responsibilities of investors. The principles focus on the responsibilities of investors to monitor, vote and engage with investee companies, as well as publish their policies on stewardship, conflicts of interest and voting disclosure.

ICGN is an investor-led organisation with a mission to promote effective standards of corporate governance and investor stewardship to advance efficient markets and sustainable economies world-wide.