Welcome Remarks at the Regulatory Roundtable: Strengthening the Governance Role of Company Secretaries Serving Public Listed Companies

Speaker: Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi, Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia

Location: VOCO Kuching
Delivered: 12 October 2026

Company secretaries,
Committee Members of the Advocates Association of Sarawak,
Representatives from the Chartered Governance Institute of Malaysia (CGIM),
Ladies and gentlemen.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, and a very good afternoon.

Welcome to the Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) Roundtable on Strengthening the Governance Role of Company Secretaries Serving Public Listed Companies (PLCs), held in conjunction with the SC’s National Sustainability Reporting Framework Kembara Borneo programme.
The SC is holding a series of roundtable discussions with relevant regulators and professional bodies representing company secretaries across Malaysia. The proposition is simple yet important: stronger boards require strong governance professionals. Therefore, the purpose today is to explain our thoughts to strengthen and elevate the role of company secretaries serving PLCs and, importantly, to hear directly from those who will help shape and implement them.
PLCs today operate in an environment shaped by artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty, evolving sustainability expectations and intensifying stakeholder scrutiny. These are no longer peripheral issues. They are reshaping strategy, risk and accountability in the boardroom.
As a result, expectations of PLC boards have never been higher. Investors and stakeholders expect boards not only to ensure compliance, but also to demonstrate accountability, resilience and long-term value creation.
Indeed, as expectations increase, so too must the quality of support boards receive. This is where governance professionals such as company secretaries, auditors, accountants, sustainability professionals, HR and IT people come in as each of them play an important role in guiding and advising the board.
In some cases, these governance professionals need to be under some form of regulatory framework given their importance and impact in board decision making. So for example external auditors and company secretaries may need to be held to a higher standard.
At the same time, some governance professionals may require a less formal framework particularly if they are already regulated. Examples would include internal auditors, the sustainability team, and the finance functions. In those cases, we need to ensure they maintain standards and keep themselves up to date, by ensuring they have a local association to support them in the more demanding areas relevant to PLCs. In this regard, the SC is facilitating the establishment of two new professional associations, namely the Association of Chief Financial Officers (ACFO) and the Association of Sustainability Professionals (ASP). These two new associations will help improve the quality and contributions of professionals that oversee finance and sustainability functions respectively.
This year, the SC issued a public consultation paper on proposals to strengthen Malaysia's corporate governance ecosystem, including measures relating to company secretaries serving PLCs. The feedback received generally supported the need to strengthen company secretary competencies, capabilities and professionalism. At the same time, stakeholders highlighted the importance of ensuring that any future measures remain proportionate and to avoid unnecessary regulatory duplication.
So let me be clear: the SC's proposals are not intended to replace SSM's role under the existing regulatory framework. The registration and licensing of company secretaries remains under SSM's purview. Our proposals are intended to complement that framework by addressing the specific governance expectations placed on company secretaries. We will also work with SSM on disciplinary issues if they arise.
With this in mind, we intend to work closely with SSM, Bursa Malaysia, Bank Negara and relevant professional bodies through a multi-stakeholder process. Together, we want to develop an approach that strengthens the accountability of company secretaries and elevates PLC governance standards, while ensuring regulatory coordination and avoiding unnecessary duplication.
In advancing this, we are exploring a proportionate and light-touch approach built around two complementary measures. The first is intended to raise competencies across the wider profession; the second will examine whether clearer minimum expectations and accountability should apply specifically to company secretaries serving PLCs. Rome was not built in a day and for these proposals, we see this as a two-year project to bring the standards up.
Allow me to highlight the details. The first proposal is the development of an industry-driven competency framework for company secretaries.
This framework would establish clearer expectations regarding governance knowledge, experience and professional capabilities, while supporting continuing professional development. It is intended to build on existing frameworks local and global, identify any gaps and promote greater consistency across the profession.
To support this effort, we are proposing the establishment of a multi-stakeholder taskforce this year, comprising regulators and relevant professional bodies to provide strategic direction and oversee the development of the framework over the next two years.
This first measure is our priority for now. We have already had our first meeting last week and will commence with a study of the current situation. Once proposals are ready, we will expose the details such as the proposed Competency Framework and the plan to raise standards with all those affected before we implement them.
The second proposal is for the SC and Bursa Malaysia to explore how to set minimum expectations and accountability for company secretaries serving PLCs which could be reflected in Bursa's Listing Requirements.
This work remains at an exploratory stage and will be undertaken carefully, with engagement and consultation with stakeholders first.
To reiterate, these measures together are intended to complement SSM's existing framework, avoid unnecessary regulatory duplication and ensure that company secretaries serving PLCs can fulfil their increasingly important governance role.
Today’s roundtable, which also coincides with the SSM Annual Dialogue this morning, is an important avenue for us to hear feedback from the company secretarial profession in Sarawak. We will also be meeting with stakeholders in Sabah this Wednesday, after the SSM Annual Dialogue in Kota Kinabalu on the same day. We plan to have similar engagements in other states.
Ultimately, good governance is not produced by any single framework, institution or regulator. It is built through the combined efforts of regulators, professional bodies, boards and governance professionals, with each playing a distinct but complementary role.
Strengthening the capabilities of company secretaries will contribute not only to stronger boards and better governance outcomes, but also to more resilient listed companies and greater confidence in our capital market.
On that note, thank you for joining us today. I encourage you to be candid about what will work, what may not, and how we can shape an approach that is practical, proportionate and effective. I look forward to a productive and meaningful discussion this afternoon.

Thank you.