The Securities Commission Malaysia has released the Corporate Governance Monitor 2025, reporting continued progress by public listed companies in adopting the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance and positioning the findings as an evidence base for targeted interventions and policy enhancements ahead of a planned revision to the Code next year. The monitor finds that 33 of 48 MCCG best practices recorded adoption levels of at least 90%, up from 30 in 2024. Board governance indicators improved, including a rise to 73% of PLCs where the board chairman does not sit on board committees (from 63% in 2024), and sustainability-related governance practices continued to strengthen. Areas showing slower progress include practices requiring behavioural change, with women comprising 34.1% of directors among the top 100 PLCs and 28.7% across all PLCs, while only 45% of PLCs have achieved at least 30% women board representation; detailed senior management remuneration disclosure remains low at 5%. The SC also notes that disclosure quality varies, ranging from decision-useful reporting to generic disclosures and weak explanations for departures, and highlights low adoption of Step-Up practices partly linked to misconceptions about applicability. The SC expects the monitor’s insights to feed into proposed MCCG revisions focused on board leadership and effectiveness, technology governance, risk oversight and stakeholder engagement, and will conduct a Market Survey to gather feedback on emerging governance trends and global developments affecting PLCs.

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