Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said that the Mandatory Accreditation Programme (MAP) which was introduced in February 2001 and the Continuing Education Programme (CEP) implemented by Bursa Securities in July 2003 have enhanced the awareness of the need for continuous learning amongst directors.
"The efforts of Bursa Securities have created greater awareness on the significance of continuous training and skill enhancements for directors and it has promoted a culture of continuous learning and training. To date, approximately 6,329 Directors have attended the MAP whilst 3,553 directors have attended the CEP.”
"The CEP was prescribed by Bursa Securities as being compulsory for the years 2003 and 2004. A CEP Accreditation Committee was set up comprising representatives from industry to accredit suitable programmes for directors. However, given the varying training needs of directors, from year 2005 onwards, the boards of directors of listed companies will take on the onus in evaluating and determining the specific and continuous training needs for their directors on a regular basis. Continuous education is important in keeping directors updated on regulatory and corporate governance developments, besides enhancing professionalism and knowledge of directors in enabling them to discharge their duties more effectively."
In line with this the CEP, which details are prescribed under Practice Note No 15/2003 (PN15) for Main Board and Second Board companies and Guidance Notes 10 (GN10) for MESDAQ Market companies (“CEP Requirements”), will be repealed with effect from 1 January 2005. However, directors who had been required to accumulate 72 CEP points for the years 2003 and 2004 or 48 CEP points for the year 2004, as the case may be, must continue to fulfill the accumulation of such CEP points by 31 December 2005, an extension from the initial deadline of 31 December this year. In addition, these directors must also attend such training as may be determined by their boards of directors from 1 January 2005 onwards.
All other directors who are not required to accumulate CEP points pursuant to the CEP Requirements for the years 2003 or 2004 must attend such training as may be determined by their boards of directors from 1 January 2005 onwards. Further, listed companies must disclose whether their directors have attended training in the annual reports issued for financial years ending on or after 31 December 2005.
The complete text of the amendments to the Listing Requirements relating to the role of boards of public listed companies for continuing education for directors and questions and answers on such amendments are available on the Bursa Malaysia’s web-site at www.bursamalaysia.com.
