Bursa Malaysia today organised a forum on the Financial Reporting Standard 139 (FRS 139) to ensure listed companies are prepared in meeting the requirements of the new standard of financial reporting. The FRS 139 is targeted to be implemented on 1 January 2010 as notified by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB). The forum, which was well attended by over 150 audit committee chairmen from various public listed companies in Malaysia, was organised by Bursa Malaysia to raise awareness and highlight the implementation challenges of FRS 139 to the audit committees.
Themed 'The Challenges of Implementing FRS 139', the forum was opened by Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Regulatory Officer of Bursa Malaysia. Selvarany said, "The drive towards convergence of the new financial reporting standards is driven largely by the demands and the realities of the marketplace. The challenge in the global market is to reduce the costs associated with the access and comparability of information that has historically been constrained by different accounting standards, legal and cultural traditions, as well as regulatory regimes. To achieve this, a common accounting language is needed that can be translated and understood globally such as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)."
Thong Foo Vung, Partner of KPMG presented an overview of FRS 139 and highlighted some common implementation issues and shared some practical examples. A panel session comprising Peter Ho, Partner-in-Charge of Audit of KPMG and Thong, chaired by Mohammad Faiz Azmi, Chairman of MASB dealt with the insightful questions posed by the attending participants.
Emphasising on the audit committee's role, Selvarany said, "A demanding regulatory and governance environment is elevating expectations of an audit committee's performance. The audit committee has to be up-to-speed on key financial reporting issues and developments. An ongoing challenge for audit committees will be to understand the implications of important financial reporting issues and developments affecting the company."
The Exchange expects that any potential challenges arising from the implementation will be effectively addressed by the listed companies with adequate preparation and a better understanding of the issues.