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The introduction of the Principles on Good Governance (PGG) by the Finance Ministry accentuates directors’ integrity and accountability in strengthening and reforming GLICs. Directors are leaders who set the tone at the top and determine the board culture which emanates downwards as the corporate culture.

Besides, PCG would also serve as the sole reference to governance baseline and sustainability practices for all GLICs to enable the latter better prepare themselves for the adoption of ESG elements in their investment strategies.

Against the backdrop of increasing responsibilities and workload for board members, overboarding has become a sensitive topic in the realm of today’s corporate governance. Directors are considered overboarded if they sit on a number of boards which could result in excessive time commitments and an inability to fulfil their duties such as squeeze in last-minute emergency board meetings to deliberate on pressing issues.

The Report on 2020 Annual General Meeting of Public Listed Companies, a joint study between MSWG and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to analyse AGM practices of PLCs in 2020 has highlighted three areas of concern, namely the Q&A session, board attendance and the role of chairman. In the report, we have also suggested some areas of improvement for PLCs in conducting their AGMs moving forward.