A survey on the practices and implementation of segment disclosures by Malaysian companies / Halim Shuhaimi Yeop Johari

As the country moves towards becoming an industrialized country by the year 2020, Malaysian companies are expected to be more diversified both in products and services as well as locations. In line with these expectations, companies must make sure that their financial reports are immaculate: useful, relevant, timely and transparent. The forthcoming implementation of trade agreements such as AFTA, WTO and others make it more relevant for Malaysian companies to prepare the best reports particularly segmental reports. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the practices of Malaysian companies on segmental reports. The issuance of IAS 14 (Revised) and MASS 22 was made with the hope of an improved segmental reporting. Although the compliance rate has slightly improved after the issuance of IAS 14 (Revised), the findings have found that Malaysian companies are currently disclosing only the minimum requirement of the Standard. Although the findings of this research revealed that the respondents believed on several benefits of segmental reporting the content disclosure is still very minimal. A comparative study with selected US and UK companies implied that the Malaysian Companies in general and their accountants in particular need to be deliberately informed of a seek way of presenting their information segmentally. It is also proposed that the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) should take a more proactive role to educate the accountants.