SHOCK REPORT: 59% of Malaysian financial professionals feel pressured over ethics

PETALING JAYA: Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has reported that 59% of finance professionals in Malaysia feel under pressure to compromise their ethical standards.

Its third annual Managing Responsible Business report, which polled 2,4981 professionals across the world, found that the proportion of Malaysia-based workers reporting such pressure remained about the same in 2012 (60%) and in 2015 (59%).

"Worryingly, 34% of respondents agreed those who report concerns about unethical behaviour are seen as troublemakers by management," it said in a statement released yesterday.

CIMA said the top causes of pressure to compromise standards of ethical business conduct for finance professionals include working with colleagues from different functional areas within the organisation, managing staff, meeting reporting deadline and dealing with customers.

Commenting on the report's findings, CIMA head of ethics Tanya Barman said the profit and ethics are not two opposing aims, noting a responsible and well-run business is more likely to survive in the long term.

"However, our latest Managing Responsible Business report shows that many finance professionals are facing pressure to condone poor practice of their colleagues or to behave unethically themselves."

"The report highlights that we are still struggling to work our way through a crisis of culture within business, and we need to maintain our focus. Our study shows that we can no longer afford to think of ethical performance in business as just a compliance issue," she noted.

The report also highlighted that although the majority of organisations have codes of ethics, only 36% of respondents confirmed that their organisations collect ethical management information (EMI).

"This is despite an increase in demand for data on ethical business practices, particularly from the investor community, 30% of whom are users of EMI," it said.

The report found that countries where members face the highest levels of pressure to compromise professional ethics are Sri Lanka (61%), Malaysia (59%) and Pakistan (54%).

Meanwhile, respondents in the UK, the US and Ireland reported the lowest levels of pressure, but still recorded an increase of 12%, 7% and 5% respectively since 2012, while India falling to 45% from 51% in 2012.

"A lost reputation can destroy a business overnight. Leaders should consider adopting integrated reporting – narrative reports which provide information on areas such as ethics to both management and stakeholders," Barman said.-TheSunDaily