(Pursuant to Rule 12(1) of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (Membership and Council) Rules 2001, any member who wishes to propose any motion at the annual general meeting shall give notice of such motion to the Registrar at the office of the Institute not less than fourteen (14) days before the date of the annual general meeting. For the forthcoming Nineteenth Annual General Meeting, notice of any motions must be received not later than 5.30 pm on Friday, 9 September 2005. No motion shall be discussed at the annual general meeting unless the required notice has been given. Proposed motions must also comply with the Guidelines and Procedures on Motions as approved by the Council, a copy of which is available at the Institute’s website at www.mia.org.my.)

As at 5.30 pm on Friday, 9 September 2005, the Registrar of the Institute received notice of the following Motions:-

Motion 1:

“WHEREAS the Auditor-General’s office which acts as the secretariat for the formation of the Lembaga Audit Negara Malaysia (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Board’) has drafted a bill and in fact received RM5 million grant from the Cabinet to that effect. The Auditor General in a series of discussions with many parties (including the Proposer) has informed that the proposed Board was strongly opposed by the Institute and certain parties;

AND WHEREAS the Proposer is of the opinion, after consultation with a few solicitors, that the Institute has little or no locus standi to object to the Government on the formation of the Board. The idea of forming the Board is for a noble cause. The Proposer was the one who started writing to the Auditor-General’s office since year 2000. The merits of setting up this Board are as follows:
 

(i)	To centralize the authority for issuing Audit Licenses by the government - now there are three;
(ii)	To avoid anomalies for audit appointments for organizations registered under various Acts of parliament;
(iii)	To regulate and control the conduct of auditors over and above self regulation by the professional institutes. Even the United Kingdom has set up a Professional Oversight Board;
(iv)	To introduce licensing of Auditors with other auditing functions such as: (a) Internal Auditors (b) Management / Operation Auditors (c) Quality Control Auditors (d) Environment Auditors (e) Information Technology Auditors (f) Halal Food Auditors (maybe) (g) ISO Auditors
(v)	To allow the setting up of multidisciplinary audit firms;

AND FURTHER the Proposer has been made to understand that the Ministry of Finance was "dragged" into this objection. Certainly the Minister himself who had made the allocation of RM5 million was deemed to have agreed earlier. The Auditor-General is under the Prime Minister and not under the Ministry of Finance, to whom the Institute is responsible. The interest of the Minister of Finance in licensing auditors lies in section 8(1) of the Companies Act 1965. For the good and efficient audit administration in the country, one single body charged with responsibility of issuing Audit Licenses has merits. Audit in whatever form involves public accountability, a separate function from the stewardship responsibility of executives be it finance and/or operations. Even licensing of internal auditors may be vital as the internal audit report is an integral part of the reporting requirements of many public organizations such as public listed companies and cooperatives. Thus the licensing of internal auditors provide a higher degree of respectability and confidence in their reports;

AND WHEREAS with such a noble cause, the Institute should support the Board. The majority of auditors who are members of the Institute and who are given jobs by the Auditor-General’s office are supportive of the setting up of the Board;

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT the Institute supports the formation of the Lembaga Audit Negara, Malaysia, and if the Institute is reluctant to so support, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT the Institute not oppose the formation of the Lembaga Audit Negara, Malaysia.”

Proposer : Haji Mohd Sahir bin Haji Sanawi (Mem. No: 1564)
Seconder : Dr. Ahmad Faisal bin Zakaria (Mem. No: 18709)


Motion 2:

“WHEREAS the July 2005 Accountants Today proposed that upon completion of the restructuring of the Malaysian accountancy profession whereby members who have graduated from the local universities (Part I of the First Schedule to the Accountants Act 1967) must qualify for MICPA membership to meet the global benchmark as prescribed in the International Education Standards (IES) 1 – 6 issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC);

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT any requirement for the restructuring of the Malaysian accountancy profession in compliance with the global benchmark as prescribed by the IES 1 – 6 issued by IFAC be undertaken by the Institute directly without going through MICPA or other professional bodies.”

Proposer : Haji Mohd Noh bin Jidin (Mem. No: 1129)
Seconder : Haji Mohd Sahir bin Haji Sanawi (Mem. No: 1564)

MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH
Registrar

12 September 2005


NOTE TO MEMBERS:

Please go to the Institute’s website at www.mia.org.my to download a copy of the Council’s response to Motion 1 and Motion 2. You can also download a copy of the Institute’s Memorandum to the Auditor-General of Malaysia dated 15 April 2005 and a copy of the July 2005 issue of Accountants Today from www.mia.org.my.
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