KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Good governance, accompanied by strong moral values and the willingness to commit in instilling ethics and integrity in the organisation, will help corporate entities to combat corruption.

Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said all of these would lead to reduced corruption.

“We should also pay attention not only in ensuring a clean business environment but also to other business related activities at the national and international levels.

Hence, she said, on April 15 last year, the Parliament passed the amendments to the MACC Act, including Section 17A of the MACC Act 2009 with aimed at assisting commercial organisations in understanding on the adequate procedures that should be implemented to prevent occurrences of corrupt practice in relation to their business pursuits.

Advertisement

“In short, under the new provision, a commercial organisation could be prosecuted if anyone associated with the organisation commits a corrupt act for the interest or advantage of the said organisation, and it fails to prove that it has taken adequate measures to prevent it.

Latheefa said this in her speech on Corporate Liability (CL) and Integrity and Governance Unit (IGU) in Government-Linked Company (GLC) in conjunction with Petronas Integrity Day, here today.

She also stated that GLCs had been instructed on October 2018 by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to set up Integrity and Governance Unit (IGU) at their respective organisations.

Advertisement

“IGU reports directly to the board members of the companies, while the implementation and reporting of core functions will be regulated by the MACC,” she said.

She also added that the enactment of Section 17A was in line with the objectives of the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 (NACP) launched by Prime Minister early this year which specifically developed to set realistic and practical goals in addressing issues on corruption, integrity and governance.

Latheefa also said that the Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP), one of the mandatory initiatives under the NACP, was designed to strengthen the effectiveness of public service delivery and agencies were required to develop their respective tailor-made corporate anti-corruption strategy plan in ensuring that Malaysia would one day be free of corruption.

“MACC is ever ready to assist PETRONAS (and other sectors) in preventing, detecting and handling corruption issues towards a culturally ethical business environment,” she said. — Bernama