"There are increasing indications of growing confidence in Malaysia's economic and capital market outlook and broad approval of the country's current economic policies", Encik Ali said.

Encik Ali had met with several UK fund managers in conjunction with the delivery of his keynote address at the Merrill Lynch Asia-Pacific Region Investors Conference in London on 14 April 1999.

Fund managers were assured that concrete steps are being taken to enhance market transparency and corporate governance in order to reinforce corporate credibility.

"The SC has not lost sight of the fact that confidence in such structures is a mainstay of the long-term development of Malaysia's securities industry," he said.

In his presentation Enhancing Governance and Transparency in Malaysia's Capital Markets, Encik Ali said that reforms in this area have been accelerated with the formation of a high-level Finance Committee on Corporate Governance (Finance Committee) last year to undertake a comprehensive review of corporate governance in Malaysia.

The Committee released its 275-page report on 25 March this year, outlining some 70 recommendations covering a wide range of areas including legal reforms, best-practice codes and improvements in enforcement, education and training.

One commentator has suggested that the report's recommendations "…serve as a model for other markets within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group."

Encik Ali also stressed the urgency of timely and effective implementation of these recommendations.

"In this regard, the government has agreed to the Finance Committee's recommendation for the formation of various implementation committees, as well as for the continued existence of the Finance Committee to oversee and report on their programmes and progress," he said.

The SC will continue to act as secretariat to the committee for this next phase.

The SC Chairman also highlighted other key measures undertaken by the regulatory body to restore confidence in Malaysia's securities industry. These included strengthening the rules on related-party and interested-party transactions, enhanced corporate disclosure and the move towards disclosure-based regulations, improved regulation in relation to take-overs and mergers, and improved regulation and enforcement in relation to insider trading activities.