Welcome Aboard Associate Professor Dr Erlane

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is delighted to welcome Associate Professor Dr Erlane K. Ghani, CPA as its new research fellow effective 1st September 2016.

 Dr Erlane's appointment will be for a period of three years.   Dr Erlane's research interest is in the area of internet financial reporting which will definitely synced well with ARI's research niche agenda in Islamic Financial Criminology.  In addition to research, Dr Erlane will also be tasked to facilitate with ARI's training programs and journal administration.  With an H-Index of 9, Dr Erlane is an avid writer and scholar and will certainly contributes to ARI's future development. Welcome aboard.

ARI Researchers for ERASMUS+ Program

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates its two researchers - Research Fellow, Associate Professor Dr Faizah Darus and Research Associate, Associate Professor Dr Haslinda Yusuf who have been selected to participate in the joint Erasmus+ Staff Mobility program between Burgas Free University, Bulgaria and Universiti Teknologi MARA.   In 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two universities.  Among the programs agreed by both universities were staff exchange and research collaboration. Earlier in May 2016, three researchers from Burgas Free  University - Professor Baltov, Professor Kotseva and Professor Anastassova came to Universiti Teknologi MARA for one week and were assigned respectively to the Arshad Ayub Business School, Faculty of Media Studies and Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism. The dean of the Faculty of Hotel Management, Dr Mohammed Hemdi was the first lecturer/researcher from UiTM being sent to Bulgaria for this program in May 2016.  Whilst in Burgas Free University, Dr Faizah and Dr Haslinda will be teaching both financial reporting and sustainability reporting to the students there.  Both will also be pursuing possible research collaboration with researchers in Bulgaria.  Current research interest of both Associate Professor Dr Faizah and Associate Professor Dr Haslinda is in the area of Sustainability Reporting.  Dr Faizah is also currently leading a research cluster in Corporate Waqaf Sustainability and Governance under ARI HICoE's  niche in Islamic Financial Criminology.   For this visit, both researchers are fully sponsored by the Erasmus+ program.  Congratulations to both of you.

Congratulations ACFE-Certified Scholar

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates the recent success of its post-doctoral scholar Dr Md Shamimul Hassan when the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) admits and accredits him as a certified fraud examiner. Dr Md Shamimul Hassan sat for the ACFE examination and passed all four papers.  The ACFE is the world's largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. Together with more than 75,000 members, the ACFE is reducing business fraud worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the integrity and objectivity within the profession.  The Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential denotes proven expertise in fraud prevention, detection and deterrence. CFEs around the world help protect the global economy by uncovering fraud and implementing processes to prevent fraud from occurring in the first place. May this accreditation be the beginning of your future undertakings both in academic and research. We are very proud of you.

ARI's Involvement at ICABEC 2016

The 4th International Conference on Accounting, Business and Economics (ICABEC 2016), was successfully held in Kuala Terengganu on 28-30 August 2016 by researchers from the Faculty of Marine Business, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).  One of the main aims of the conference was to bring together researchers and practitioners who are interested in the current developments and issues related to global economy, businesses and accounting practices at a common platform.  Themed "Thriving in Emerging Economies: Transparency and Management Integrity", the conference has successfully attracted more than 100 papers.

 A selected fifteen papers would be published in a special issue of  Journal of Sustainability Science and Management (JSSM), UMT's indexed journal. JSSM is an Open-Access and peer–reviewed journal, and currently indexed in Scopus, Scimago and DOAJ. The two keynote speakers for the conference were namely ARI Director, Professor Dr Normah Omar who spoke on "Governance-Based Environment for Driving Sustainability in ASEAN Economic Community"; and President of Transparency International Malaysia, Dato’ Akhbar Haji Satar, deliberated on the topic "Corruption and Fraud".  ARI senior fellow, Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi was also attending the event to present her research paper. 

ARI Research Retreat

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) recently organises a two-day research retreat at the Institute of Leadership & Development (ILD) with the participation of research fellows, research associates, post-doctoral scholars and distinguished researcher.  The main aims of the retreat was firstly to update members of the outcome of the recent ARI HICoE document audit at the Ministry of Higher Education.  Secondly, researchers, who are grouped into four main clusters and twelve sub-clusters presented their research progress and reported their contributions towards the HICoE Key Performance Indicators (KPI).  Thirdly, in view of additional research-related activities of ARI as a Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence, members participated in the development of ARI's research and development policies.  This is to ensure that proper governance are in place and research output and outcome are effectively and efficiently produced to support the aspiration of ARI HICoE to become a global research centre in its niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology.  Thank you all members for your kind participation and commitment.

MoU Signing: UiTM and Petronas

It was indeed another milestone for the Accounting Research Institute when it has been chosen by the university to coordinate academic and research programs under the Memorandum of Understanding between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas).  The event which took place at UiTM's newly launched training centre - Institute of Leadership & Development (ILD) at Bandar Enstek, Nilai Negeri Sembilan, was witnessed by the Minister of Higher Education. YB Dato' Seri Haji Idris bin Jusoh and Tan Sri Dato' Academician Ir Dr Ahmad Zaidee bin Laidin, Chairman of UiTM's Board of Director.  Basically, the MoU will involve the participation of six responsibility centres in UiTM: Accounting Research Institute (ARI), Faculty of Accountancy, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Business Management, Faculty of Media Studies and Faculty of Information Management.  Whilst ARI will participate in research activities with Petronas's unit of integrity, the faculties will benefit in term of students attachment with Petronas.  As a conglomerate organisation, Petronas has huge pool of talents.  UiTM can take advantage of this opportunity to appoint them as adjunct professors or industry experts at the university.

Corporate Governance Symposium

Congratulations are in order for the successful joint-organization of a recent Corporate Governance Symposium by the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG) and Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). 

 The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) was also invited to co-organize the one-day event held at the Nexus Connection Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur.  Themed "Driving Public-Private Governance Forward", the symposium showcased three forums, two keynote speeches and a special presentation.  YB Senator Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan officially graced open the symposium.  For the purpose of building strong links between the public and private sectors, a robust public-private collaboration is imperative given the crucial roles that these two sectors play in upholding good governance practices for Malaysia.

Importantly, this symposium also aimed to leverage on public-private partnerships to augment scarce resources and talent, while building capacity and competency in governance-related areas, e.g. accounting education and research.  Participants would gain awareness of current developments in the governance of public and private sectors, and benefit from developing wide networks with other governance specialists and thought leaders.  Given the current global emphasis on good governance, the symposium was especially timely in providing a common platform for practitioners, academia, policy makers and implementers to engage in intellectual discourse with the primary goal of enhancing understanding on the subject of governance.  ARI from Universiti Teknologi MARA was represented by 10 fellows and post graduate students at the symposium.  

Launching of the Mindanao Halal Holding Corporation

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) reaches another milestone when it was invited by Mr Amanoding Ismail, the President of the Philippines Association of Islamic Accountants (PAIA) to participate in the establishment of a new investment holding company in the Philippines.  The soft launch of the Mindanao Halal Holding Corporation (MHHC) was recently invited to become one of MHHC's International Board of Directors.  The creation of the MHHC is the outgrowth of a deep study of the potential growth in the Southern Philippines whose development had long been overdue and marked by neglect.  MHHC positions itself as a primer investing channel for overseas and local capital, by identifying areas of rapid growth, and nurturing basic livelihood and transforming little markets into community-sized ones according to Islamic tenets and international ethical standards. 

Beside involved in business activities, MHHC will be promoting Islamic Finance, Zakat, Waqaf, social business and Islamic microfinance in the Philippines.  As a partner, ARI will have a great role to play in the Philippines, both in terms of providing trainings in Islamic Financial Criminology as well as participating in international research programmes.  The launching of the event was graced by the Chairman, Board of Accountancy, Professional Regulation Commission Philippines, Hon. Joel Tan-Torres.  During the event, Professor Dr Normah Omar from the Accounting Research Institute ARI was a guest speaker and presented a paper titled ""Potential Implications of the ASEAN economic community on islamic Finance Industry". 

ARI International Collaboration with PICPA and PAIA

The globalization agenda of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will reach another level when it collaborates with two professional organisations in the Republic of Philippines - the Philippines Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and the Philippines Association of Islamic Accountants (PAIA) in July 2016.  ARI Director, Professor Dr Normah Omar and Deputy Director Associate Professor Dr Roshayani Arshad were recently invited to the "Joint Induction of Officers and New Members" at the Mallberry Suites Business Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, Philippines.  During his visit to ARI early this year, Mr Amanoding Ismail, PAIA President indicated his interest to collaborate with ARI in training PAIA members in the areas of Islamic Finance and Financial Criminology.  During the induction event, two more professional associations were launched in the Philiipines - International Council of Islamic Finance Educators and ASEAN Federation of Islamic Accountants.  During the collaborative meetings in Cagayan de Oro City, it was decided that an international conference - International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance with the theme :Human Capital Development in the Islamic Finance Industry will be held in Manila in February 2017.

ARI Welcomes our new Research Fellow

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes our latest addition, Associate Professor Dr Ayub Md Som from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering.  Dr Ayub research interests are in the areas Process Systems Engineering, Expert Systems Modelling, Multi-Parametric Programming and Model Based Predictive Control. Dr Ayub will be a welcome addition to ARI as he can help develop a Decision Support System for ARI's niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC).  ARI's research in Islamic Financial Criminology is currently conducted through four strategic clusters: Islamic-Based Value Creation products and governance; Corporate Integrity and Risk Management; Anti Money-Laundering Regime and Fraud Detection Methodologies.  The development of a Decision Support System  will integrate the four clusters and digitize the various research products for ease of commercialization.