ICGA 2016

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI), in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi MARA, Melaka campus collaborated to organise a three-day conference on corporate governance and accountability in the historic city Melaka.  Themed "Towards Sustainable and Accountable Landscape", this conference is held at Holiday Inn, Melaka,  Malaysia on September 25-27, 2016.  The main objective of the conference is to provide a platform for participants to present their research findings and for the exchange of information and knowledge between academics and practitioners. The conference will provide an informal gathering of researchers, lecturers, students and practitioners concerned with governance, accountability and corporate social responsibility in a friendly, supportive and relaxed atmosphere.  

A total of 100 research papers are presented during the event.  Three keynote speakers invited for the 3-day conference are namely (i)  Kolonel (K) Tan Sri Datuk Wira Dr Hj Mohd Shukur Hj Mahfar, Chief Executive Officer / Director General of Inland Revenue Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia; (ii) Professor Dr Charl de Villiers, Professor in Accounting Graduate School of Management, The University of Auckland, New Zealand & Research Fellow Centre for Sustainability Management Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany; (iii) Dr James Hazelton Senior Lecturer, Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance Macquarie University, Australia.  Congratulations and well done.

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. 

International Conference on Islamic Economics, Governance and Social Enterprise - Day 2

Day 2

Day 2 of IConIGS 2015 started with more participants presenting in parallel sessions.  After the morning break, Professor Rafiqul Islam Molla, Advisor to the Islamic International University Chittagong, Bangladesh presented a special paper on Social Enterprise Economics.  the voluntary sector or community sector (also non-profit sector or "not-for-profit" sector) is the duty of social activity undertaken by organizations that are not for-profit and non-governmental. This sector is also called the third sector in contrast to the public sector and the private sector. Civic sector or social sector are other terms for the sector, emphasizing its relationship to civil society.  Following Professor Molla's special address, there was a plenary session.  Moderated by Prof Dato' Dr Mustafa Mohamed Hanefah, the session was facilitated by two plenary speakers, namely Mr Md Khairuddin Hj Arshad, Chief Operating Officer of Bank Rakyat, Malaysia and Mr Zainal Abidin, Director of Social Enterprise Dompet Dhuafa, Indonesia.  Whilst Mr Khairuddin discusses the role of the financial sector in enhancing the  development of social enterprise; Mr Zainal Abidin shares his personal experiences in the setting up of social enterprise economics.  Later in the afternoon, participants were invited to participate in an Office Bearer meeting, to discuss the association's activities for the next two years. Participants were reminded that the Social Enterprise economics, together with micro-finance, non-profit organisations and the cooperatives constitute main components of the third sector.   Note that, in general, 

Asia Pacific Management Accounting Conference 2015

The Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA) is the leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of management accounting in the Asia-Pacific region. The proposal to form the Association was first mooted at the Asian Management Forum and the first APMA forum was held November 2002 in Japan. The decision to establish the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association was made at the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Forum held on 24-25, November 2004 in Malaysia, and hosted by Universiti Teknologi MARA(UiTM).  APMAA forums (now called ‘Conferences’) have been held annually since then.  This year the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association holds its 11th Conference (APMAA 2015) in Bali, Indonesia at Udayana University and Warmadewa University from October 26-29, 2015.  Themed "Management Accounting for Sustainable Development", the main goal of the conference is to bring together researchers and practitioners to exchange theories, ideas, techniques and experiences relating to all aspects of management accounting. This conference provides a very good opportunity for our members to interact face-to-face with experts from all over the world. We received around 120 papers from academics, doctoral students and accounting professionals from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, United Arab Emirates, China, Poland, Qatar, Thailand, Taiwan, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, Estonia, India and Iran. The APMAA 2015 conference has a plenary session, a panel session, and over 30 parallel sessions. The doctoral colloquium has three sessions.  In the past three years, the Indonesian Conference Organizing Team has poured their passion and tremendous energy to lead APMAA 2015 to success. It is time for their hard work to be rewarded fully. On behalf of APMAA, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the devotion of the organizing team in making this conference unique and inspiring through the blend of different kinds of programmes to cater to the different palates.　The Accounting Research Institute is sending 16 participants to present papers at APMAA Conference 2015.

International Accounting & Business Conference

The 4th International Accounting and Business Conference (IABC) which was organized by Universiti Teknologi MARA Johor was recently held on 17-18 August 2015 at the Everly Hotel in Putrajaya. Themed "Global Issues in Business & Accounting: Current Trends & Future Challenges", IABC proposes ten possible areas of discussion namely Accounting & Finance, Economics, Innovation and Entrepreneurship,  Management & Governance, Information Systems Management, Knowledge Management, Human Resources, Marketing, International Business and Psychological & Education.  As a co-organizer, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) handles the publication of proceeding book - PROCEDIA.  A total of thirty papers has been presented by ARI fellows and postgraduate students at the conference .  Congratulations and well done. 

International Conference on Higher Education

One of the main focus of the conference relates to Higher Education in India.  With 1.3 billion population, India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the United States and China. 

The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 12 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission.  In discussing higher education in India, four broad issues  that have been raised include the following.   First, there is simply too much focus on quantity at present in India. Opening up of newer institutions is being done at

breakneck speed but the performance of the existing ones is not looked into and bettered. It requires careful educational planning and implementation for catering to the influx of burgeoning population at the same time providing them with a quality education. Secondly, several curricula need to be updated in subjects where change happens quickly. The process of updating of curricula is something that needs to be done at a faster pace in subjects like engineering, sciences, etc.  Thirdly, there is the issue of faculty expertise, remuneration and community attitudes to an Indian faculty versus a foreign faculty. While it is true that some Indian

faculty to an extent are underperforming most in the top tier institutions are very capable, brilliant and comparable to faculty in any other place in the world.  Finally, there is the issue of research in Indian higher education institutions and what is being done to better this over time. Collaboration with centers and research institutions abroad is much needed, and much talked about strategy for Indian universities. The most critical element here is funding and often universities are at the mercy of government for funding. Generally, all the issues being raised are universal in nature.  As an invited resource person for the conference, Prof Dr Normah Omar shares Malaysia's 10-shifts Educational Blueprint 2015-2025 as a possible higher education's transformation initiative that India could possibly emulate.

International Conference On Higher Education

A two-day  International Conference on “Creating a Sustainable Lens for Higher Education: The New Urgency” was organized by the Sambhram School of Management on July 29-30, 2015. The conference was sponsored by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).  Following the opening ceremony by the Vice President Mr V, Nagaraj, the first day of the conference saw three plenary sessions and one parallel session. Invited resource persons have included  Professor Susanne Maria Weber, a professor of Social, Political and Cultural Conditions and Contexts of Education in international perspective at Philipps University of Marburg, Germany.  She is also an Adjunct Professor of the Global Education Program at the Centre of Global Studies in Education at the University of Waikato, Hamilton (New Zealand) and Professor S. Bisaliah, a former Vice Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.  Both are world renowned speakers in the area of higher education.  The three ARI fellows have also been invited to present their research papers at the conference.  The conference registered about 100 participants from India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia and Malaysia.  Globally, it has been predicted that higher education in the future will need to include entrepreneurship element in its curricular beside optimising the usage of technology and online courseware for teaching and learning.

 

APMAA Conference 2014

The 10th annual conference of the Asia Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA) is hosted by the Chullalongkorn Business School of the University of Chullalongkorn Thailand.  Themed "Management Accounting in a Global, Dynamic Environment: Challenges and Opportunities", the 3-day conference (27-30 October 2014) is to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lumpini, Bangkok.  APMAA was formally established in 2004 in Fukuoka, Japan with founding committee members from Kyushu University (Japan), Kyushu Sangyo Univesity (Japan), Universiti Teknologi MARA (Malaysia), University of Chullalongkorn (Thailand), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and Seoul National Universty (Korea).  Members of APMAA take turn to host the annual conference.  The 2014 conference is attended by 200 participants.  One of the greatest characteristics of the APMAA conference is the fact that all submitted and approved papers are assigned discussants to constructively review the papers so that the papers will be further improved for publication in good academic journals.  Preceding the actual conference itself is a PhD colloquium, where PhD students are encouraged to present their research projects and get feedback from experts in the research areas.

ARI's Indexed Conference in Manchester

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will be co-organizing an international conference - International Conference on Corporate Governance & Strategic Management (ICGSM 2014).  Other co-organizers of the the conference will include the Malaysian Association of Statutory Bodies (PBBM), AKEPT, Institute of Public Enterprise (India), University of Chullalongkorn (Thailand) and the Teeside University (UK).  Themed "Untangling the Divergence", ICGSM 2014 will be held on 14-16 April 2014 in Manchester, United Kingdom.  Proceedings of the conference will be indexed by Elsevier through the PROCEDIA publication.  Interested researchers are encouraged to submit their full papers latest by the 5th of March 2014. For details, please visit ARI website at http://ari.uitm.edu.my/conference/2014.html. ICGSM 2014 welcomes papers covering areas such as: Corporate Governance, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship management, Risk Management, Performance Management, Forensic Accounting, Financial Criminology, Accountability and Ethics, Internal Control System, CSR, Earning Management and Microfinance stakeholder protection.

ISGFC 2013 - Bangkok

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks the Chullalongkorn Business School (CBS) of the Chullalongkorn University, Thailand for hosting the International Seminar on Governance and Financial Criminology (ISGFC 2014).  Researchers from at least four countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand participated in the seminar.  In addition, there were also representatives from the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM), Malaysian Accounting Research and Education Foundation (MAREF) and HELP College University who attended and participated in the plenary sessions of the seminar.  Papers presented have included topics on financial criminology, the governance and accountability of non-profit organisations (NPOs), Corporate Integrity, Corporate Governance, Anti Money Laundering and Anti Financing of Terrorism.   In a research meeting that follows, the research groups - ARI, CBS, University of Indonesia, HELP University College, IIM and MAREF agreed to organize an annual seminar related to the topics of corporate governance and financial criminology in the future

ICGMF 2013 in New Zealand

In its effort to enhance international collaborations, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will be co-organizing an international conference in New Zealand.  Themed "Good Governance, Ethics and Integrity", the International Conference on Governance, Management & Financial Criminology (ICGMF 2013) will be hosted by the Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, New Zealand.  ICGMF 2013 will be co-organized with ARI, Faculty of Commerce & Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University Thailand and the Institute of Public Enterprise, India.  Selected papers will be considered for review for possible publication in indexed journals.  A special key note paper on the governance of public sector will be featured on the first day of the conference.  Those interested to participate may contact the secretariate at: icgmf@gmail.com

 

IFCTF 2013

The annual International Financial Criminology and Terrorism Financing Conference 2013 will be back with more interesting stuff.  This is in view of the fact that Malaysia will be undergoing the Mutual Evaluation (ME) assessment of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) scheduled for April 2014.  As such is it expected that the conference will provide interesting and practical topics that could enhance participants' knowledge and competency in the AML/CFT area.  Again, for the third time, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is greatly honoured to be invited to be part of the organizing committee.  As per last year, the main organizers of IFCTF 2013 will be the Compliance Officer Networking Group (CONG) and the Asian Institute of Finance (AIF).  Today, two ARI researchers - ARI Director Prof Dr Normah and Fellow AP Dr Jamaliah attended the preliminary meeting of the IFCTF 2013 Committee.  Dates, venue and theme of the conference will be confirmed by the next committee meeting in June 2013.  We look forward to another very interesting conference...

ICFC 2013 - Day 2

Day 2:

The second day of the conference started with two more plenary sessions in the morning.  Plenary Session 6 titled "Forensic Investigative Techniques and Procedures" was moderated by Professor Dr David Chaikin from University of Sydney, Australia. Meanwhile, the two invited panelists comprised Mr Awang Armadajaya, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Attorney General Chambers and Mr Sukdev Singh, Director of Forensic Investigations, KPMG Malaysia.  Essentially, the speakers highlighted on two very important points: Forensic investigation needs to be properly documented and it must be evidence-based.  Plenary 7 titled "Accounting & Legal Issues From Australian Perspectives" saw two professors from Australia sharing their views.  Prof David Chaikin of the University of Sydney Business School was a practising lawyer specialising in multi-jurisdictional investigations, transnational commercial and criminal litigation, as well as offshore corporate and banking law. He has worked as a consultant to the United Nations, the OECD-based Financial Action Task Force and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering.  The second speaker, Professor  Dr Paul Barnes was previously Professor of Finance and Fraud Risk Management at Nottingham Business School in the UK. He is a Chartered Certified Accountant with degrees in history, management science, and a Ph.D. in economics.  To date, he has written a number of books and published many academic papers in a wide variety of journals in the UK, Australia and the USA. One of his books Stock Market Efficiency, Insider Dealing and Market Abuse was recently published in Australia.  Following the two plenary sessions were concurrent paper presentations by researchers.  the papers have been effectively divided into four separate categories: "Fraud & Corruption", "Taxation & Zakat", "forensic accounting" and Governance & Ethical issues. 

More than 30 research papers that were mainly in the areas of financial criminology and Islamic finance were  presented. Most of these papers would be accordingly reviewed and hopefully published in a special issue of the Malaysian Accounting Review journal.  Finally, ICFC 2013 came to a closure with a brief concluding remarks by Prof Dr Normah Omar, director of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI).  Till we meet again in the 6th International Conference on Financial Criminology 2014 .......

 

 

 

International Conference on Financial Criminology (ICFC) 2013

Day 1:

The opening ceremony of the 5th International Conference on Financial Criminology was successfully officiated by the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Dato' Sri Prof. Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar.  Themed Global Trends in Financial Crimes in the New Economies, the two-day ICFC 2013 conference has attracted international participants from 11 countries, namely -Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Iran, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and New Zealand.  For local participants, apart from academics from public and private universities, there are also practitioners  from the Accountants General Office, Auditor General Office, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), Securities Commission (SC), banks, local authorities, Registrar of Societies (ROS), Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), Cooperative Commission of Malaysia, Ministry of Finance, Association of Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Association of Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), Audit firms (including Big Four firms), Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM), Royal Malaysia Customs, Royal Malaysia Police, Labuan Offshore and the Attorney General Chambers (AGC). 

The day started with a welcome speech by the vice chancellor.  This was then followed by the keynote speech "Economic Crimes and Governance" by Tan Sri Dato' Seri Haji Megat Najmuddin bin Datuk Seri Dr Haji Megat Khas which was read by his representative Mr Ahmad Shahab Haji Din from MICG.  It has been emphasized in the keynote speech that there is strong correlation between the occurence of economic crimes with the level of governance being enforced in any organisation.  In a nutshell, effective governance requires more than mere compliance of rules and procedures.  The keynote address set the direction of the three plenary sessions afterwards.  The first plenary session which was moderated by Tuan Awang Armadajaya (AGC) focused on the topic "The Evolution of Forensic Accounting in the Asia Pacific Region: What Does the Future Hold?".  Two invited speakers to discuss the topic were namely (i) Mr Chris Fordham, Managing Partner, Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services Asia Pacific, Ernst & Young Advisory Services Ltd (UK)  and (ii) Mr Petrus Gimbad, Member of the Board of Directors, Sabah Development Bank.  The discussions highlighted the fact that globally, financial crimes which are dubbed as "crimes of the new millinieum" are on the rise.  Whilst enforcement agencies and regulators are enhancing their competency level in this new knowledge, perpetrators are finding ways to hide "evidences" and to destroy audit trail.  As such, effective fraud prevention programs must integrate multiple investigation techniques with the latest technologies and skills.

The second plenary session titled "Combating Tax Evasion and Money Laundering" was moderated by Professor Dr Normah Omar from ARI.  To discuss the topic, ICFC 2013 has invited two speakers namely (i) The Chief Executive Officer of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Shukor Haji Mahfar and Mr Aaron Lau, an accredited trainer for the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) certification program.  Since 2010, the Anti Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Act (AMLATFA 2001) has been amended to include Tax Evasion as one of the predicate offences under this jurisdiction.  As such, tax evasion constitutes a "proceed from an ill-gotten gain activity".  Tan Sri Dr Shukor further proposed for the setting up of a "task force" from among various regulatory and enforcement agencies when investigating money laundering and tax evasion cases. 

Professor Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad, moderated the third plenary session on "Economic Crimes & their Impact on the Socio Economic Development".  The two speakers for this session were (i) Dato' Akbar Satar, President of Transparency International Malaysia and (ii) Tan Sri Datuk Seri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, Chairman, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER).  Discussions centred on the "causes of economic crimes" and the "costs of Crimes".  Globally, economic crimes have escalated and there is an urgent need for governments and countries to review  possible "loopholes" in public and private policies that might give rise to financial crimes. 

After the lunch break, participants were presented with two more "heated" plenary sessions.  The fourth plenary discussion titled "Prosecuting Economic Crimes" were presented by Supt Lee Ewe Kiang from the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), Tuan Syed of AGC and Ms Shanti Geoffrey, from the Prosecution and Enforcement Division of the Securities Commission Malaysia.  The three speakers gave relevant statistics to implicate the seriousness of the subject matter.  It was concluded that the fight against economic crimes should be shouldered by everyone.  Though it is almost impossible to totally eradicate financial crime, everyone can play a role to prevent fraud from happening. 

The final plenary session for the day was deliberated by three more renowned speakers: Dato' Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, Chief Commissioner of MACC; Mr Alex Tan of PwC Malaysia and Mr Nizam Ali of the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM).  Basically, the speakers discussed on the topic "The Global Challenges of Economic and Financial Crimes and How They Affect You and I".  Participants were given a "small survey" to find out if they have given any kind of "bribes" within the last 12 months.  The "result" from a total of 74 sample participants  implicate that only a small number of four respondents (5%) have admitted bribery.  Ironically, "Corruption Perceived Indexed" stood at a much higher rate, hence the issue of "reality vs perception" needs to be  specifically addressed.  Instead of subjecting themselves to "perceptional verdict", countries should develop their own indices.  Mr Nizam of IIM spoke of the Corporate Integrity System that had been initiatited by his institute as a possible instrument to measure and benchmark integrity at work places.  Throughout all five plenary sessions on the first day, participants were given the opportunity to interact with the invited speakers.  The face-to-face interactions have produced some very interesting suggestions and recommendations.

 

ARI-CPA Philippines Conference

As a result of a successful recent visit to the Philippine, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (Cagayan Region) will be co-organising a two-day international conference on Islamic Accounting/Finance and Financial Criminology on 23rd-24th October 2013.  The event which will be held in the Cagayan City will be hosted by the regional Philippine Institute of CPA.  From the Philippine, participants will comprise academics, accountants, ulamaks and non governmental organizations (NGOs).  Prior to the two-day conference, a roundtable meeting will be held with Muslim Ulamaks, professionals and Philantrophists to discuss the viability of setting up a microfinance project there.  Interested participants and ARI members who are interested to take part in the event can contact the organisors.  Committee members from ARI will be Prof Rashidah (shidah@salam.uitm.edu.my), Associate Professor Dr Abd Halim (drabdhalim@bdrmelaka.uitm.edu.my) and Prof Normah (normah645@salam.uitm.edu.my).  Committee de lo Santos (cheddars_05@yahoo.com).  A website and brochures will be produced soon. 

ARI Forthcoming Visit to Harvard University

Two research fellows:  Associate Professor Dr Roshayani Arshad and Associate Professor Dr Faizah Darus  from the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will be participating in the multidiciplinary International Conference  of the International Journal of Arts and Sciences  in Boston, USA.  The two papers to be presented will be considered for publication in the indexed journal (International Journal of Arts and Sciences).  Currently, Dr Roshayani is heading a research cluster on Non-Profit Organisations and Dr Faizah leading a cluster on Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility.  Whilst in Boston, both researchers will be visiting Harvard University and to forge international research collaborations with two research institutes the:  Hauser Centre for Nonprofit Organizations and Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program.  Arrangment for meeting and discussion has been made by the researchers....  

Hyderabad Conference 2012

The second day of the 4th International Corporate Governance Conference in Emerging Economies saw the presentation of papers in four different technical sessions.  Three ARI researchers - Associate Professor Dr Roshayani Arshad, Dr Siti Khadijah Abd Manan and Professor Dr Normah Omar presented their respective papers.  A discussion meeting between the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE, India), Institute of Business Research (IBR, Waikato, New Zealand) and the Accounting Research Institute (ARI, UiTM Malaysia) proposed the 5th International  Conference (2013) to be hosted by ARI in Kuala Lumpur.  Other possible Malaysian partners will include the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) and the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG).  Dr Hilwani Hariri, Head of the Corporate Governance Research Centre at ARI will lead the Malaysian team in organising the 2013 conference.  The Hyderabad conference 2012 has been successful in showcasing corporate governance issues within the emerging economies of countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Langka, Bangladesh, Ghana, Malaysia and China.  Some of the issues being addressed include:

• The Governance of non-profit organisations
• Board Composition and Directors' Independence
• The Governance of Financial Shenanigans
• Governance and Performance of Public Enterprises
• Governance and Political Intervention in Public Enterprises

IIAFC 2012

Day 3

The third day of the conference saw more interesting topics being discussed.  Datuk Zabidah from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) and Professor Kabir Hassan, a renown international Islamic Finance scholar from University of New Orleans, USA spoke on a topic related to Islamic Microfinance in the first plenary session.  AIM, being the largest microcredit organisation in Malaysia has to date disbursed more than RM2.3 billion in microcredit to some 262,000 borrowers.  Beside being the financier, AIM provides training to entrepreneurs; creates microcredit network among borrowers and develop support groups for entrepreneurs.  In our latest research project on Islamic Microfinance, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) brings together microcredit financier such as AIM and entrepreneurs to work collaboratively with a large supply-chain player in Malaysia - Mydin Mohamed Holding Berhad.  Meanwhile, Professor Kabir Hassan spoke of the potential of developing a successful Islamic Microcredit framework to help eleviate poverty among the ummah.  In his speech, he proposed the integration of various Islamic finance instruments such as Zakat, Waqaf, Sadaqah and the development of specialised microcredit banks to optimally managed the instruments.  As proven by several successful zakat and waqaf organizations globally, the fundings can be effectively utilised to help aspiring but poor enterpreneurs to spearhead their small businesses.  The second plenary session discussed the aspects of governance and ethics within the Islamic Finance industry.  It was stressed that the successful development of the Islamic Finance sector must be built upon strict ethical fundamentals and supported by effective governance mechanism.  As such, the Islamic finance industry needs more specialised human capital and new, competitive products that can spearhead the industry.  A research entity such as the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) can play a proactive role by developing new frontier knowledge in Islamic Finance and Islamic Accounting.  At the same time, its research strength in financial criminology can be shared with the practitioners to facilitate the industry and to make Malaysia as a global Islamic Finance hub.

IIAFC 2012

Day 2

Following a successful PhD colloquium  is the main conference itself.  IIAFC 2012 is jointly organised by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universitas Islam Indonesia and Aston University, United Kingdom.  Themed "Steering Innovations and Competitiveness in a Dynamic Economy: New Fronteirs, New Lessons", the conference has received more than eighty research papers and registered 240 participants from twenty two countries -United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Australia, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Turkey, Philipines, Nigeria, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, Bosnia Herzegovina, Myanmar, Brunei, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malawi, Pakistan, Senegal,  Czechoslovakia and Malaysia.  The main aims of the conference are firstly to explore new knowledge in Islamic finance & accounting and secondly to showcase latest research findings in the field. The second day of the conference was divided into four main segments: key note address by Mr Badlishah Abdul Ghani, CEO of CIMB Islamic (Malaysia); Plenary session by Dr Syed Musa & Dr Zuljastry and Dinner & MOU signing.  The signing of the memorandum of understanding is undertaken by four entities namely Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Mydin Mohamed Holding Berhad, Rangsit University Thailand and Merdeka Malang University, Indonesia.  Whilst AIM and Mydin Mohamed Holding are involved with the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) in a research project on "Islamic Microfinance", Rangsit and Merdeka Malang universities are ARI's collaborative research partners in "Target Costing and Dynamic Capabilities". 

IIAFC 2012

Day 1

The International Islamic Accounting and Finance 2012 (IIAFC 2012) started today with a PhD colloquium.  IIAFC 2012 is a knowledge creation platform initiatiated by the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) in its effort to promote its research niche in Islamic Financial Criminology.  The conference is co-organized by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) and Aston University, United Kingdom.  The first Islamic Accounting and Finance conference was organized by UII in Jogjakarta in 2011.  Following an MOU between UII and UiTM which was signed in 2011, ARI undertakes the responsibility to host the second conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Themed "Steering Inovation and Competitiveness in a Dynamic Economy: New Frontiers, New Lessons", the conference hopes to document various industry updates and research findings related to Islamic Financial Criminology.  Essentially, there are are two very important aspects of research domains in Islamic Financial Criminology:  Islamic Finance/Accounting and Financial Criminology.  Thirteen PhD students who are currently undertaking their PhD research in Islamic finance presented their research progress.  Both local and international Islamic Finance scholars have been appointed as panel experts for the colloquium.  IIAFC 2012 is divided into two main components - a Phd Colloquium on the first day, followed by a two-day conference.  The conference has attracted more than 200 participants from 22 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Australia, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Turkey, Philipines, Nigeria, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, Bosnia Herzegovina, Myanmar, Brunei, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malawi, Pakistan, Senegal, Czechoslovakia and Malaysia.