Govt to ensure no opportunity for another 1MDB: Guan Eng

"I feel horrible about the fact that people who worked at Goldman Sachs, and it doesn't matter if it's a partner or it's an entry level employee, would go around our policies and break the law," Solomon said.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will ensure there is no opportunity for “another 1MDB” to rear its ugly head in the country, whether by the current leadership or any future leadership, that becomes corrupt with power.

Finance Minster Lim Guan Eng said the new government's top agenda was to restore credibility and trust in the government and in public institutions by upholding integrity and fighting corruption.

“There can be no better case study of public and corporate governance than the very scandal of 1MDB, which brought down a ruling government, which had been in power for more than 60 years.

“The outrageous abuse of power by the then Finance and Prime Minister, the scale of embezzlement and misappropriation which took place involving tens of billions of ringgit, inflicted a heavy toll on the nation, making Malaysia the global capital of kleptocracy,” he said in his keynote address at the launch of the Corporate Governance (CG) Monitor 2019 here, on MOnday. His speech was read by his political secretary, Tony Pua.

Lim said the government launched the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) in January this year to achieve the national aspiration of making “Malaysia known for her Integrity and not corruption” and build a corrupt-free nation that upholds transparency and accountability.

Parliament has even introduced a corporate liability provision in the MACC Act, where a commercial organisation and its directors may be found liable for acts of corruption committed by any persons associated with the organisation, including its employees.

“Hence, in line with restoring the country's health and credibility, we are pleased to note that the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) recommends that boards establish a Code of Conduct and Ethics which contain policies and procedures on anti-corruption,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lim also called upon the Securities Commission (SC) to look into more balanced compensation for employees in well-performing companies to be included for its CG Monitor report next year.

“We should, however, not limit ourselves to just looking at the chief executive officer's remuneration. If Malaysian companies perform, the contribution of their employees should be duly rewarded.

“Compensation of employees in Malaysia as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) stood at only 35.2 per cent in 2017, whereas countries such as Singapore and South Korea are well above 40 per cent,” he said.

He said, corporate Malaysia, needs to play its part to ensure that Malaysian workers earned a decent wage with a good work environment.