Director ARI HICoE: June 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

ARI Training Programs

One of the main functions of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI)is to provide training programs and consultancy services in the following areas of expertise:
1) Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology, 2) Financial Reporting, 3) Financial Statement Analysis, 4) Public Sector Accounting, 5) Accrual Accounting, 6) Accounting Information System, 7) Tax Planning, 8) Corporate & Enterprise Governance, 9) Islamic Accounting & Finance, 10) Shariah Auditing and 11) Intellectual Capital & Knowledge Management.

Currently, ARI's operations are supported by researchers and professional experts from eight different research centres. The eight research centres are namely Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe), Islamic Accounting & Muamalat Research Centre (IAMRC), Corporate Governance Research Centre (CGRC), Financial Reporting and Taxation Research Centre (FRRC), Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC), Asia-Pacific Centre of Sustainability (APCeS), Government-Linked Companies Research Centre (GLCRC) and Public Sector Accounting Research Centre (PSARC). Those interested with ARI training programs may contact ARI office at tel no: 603 5544 4925.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Thank You to the New Accountant General

I wish to thank and congratulate the new Accountant General of Malaysia, Datuk Wan Selamah Binti Wan Sulaiman for sharing her thoughts and experiences on the usefulness and relevance of forensic accounting in the government sector.

Her paper which was categorised under the track of "Accountability, Legal Framework and Islamic Perspective" made an interesting discussion point among the participants. One of initiatives to be undertaken by the Accountant General Office is to increase the number of forensic accounting courses for accountants.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Three Best Papers at ICFC 2011

The International Conference on Financial Criminology (ICFC 2011) was successfully organized and it ended this evening with some very encouraging words from participants. The program ended with the announcement of three prize winners for the "Best Paper" category. Dr Siti Khadijah Ab Manan and Mr Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh won the third prize for their paper "IWE Practices Among Employees of Banking Institutions in Malaysia: Preliminary Findings".

In second placing was Ms Ezdiani Ilyana Mohd Dom with her paper titled "Factors Influencing Service Tax Evasion". The Best Paper award went to the article titled "Governance of Charity Organizations as Fraud Preventive Mechanism: Lesson From Singapore" by Dr Radiah Othman, Prof Normah Omar, Prof Rashidah Abd Rahman and Dr Norli Ali. Prof Rashidah made a very impressive presentation of the winning paper. Congratulations...

Welcome

The creation of this blog is an effort to provide latest update and information about ARI. As a director to ARI, I want to share my personal vision and perhaps invite those who visit this blog to give ideas and constructive comments on how to continuously improve ARI from time to time. ARI is a centre of excellence under the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. Personally, I believe that it can go very far. Plans are underway for ARI to participate at international platforms.

As a Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence (HICoE), ARI is to drive a niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC). Essentially there are two main research thrusts within IFC: (i) Islamic Accounting & Muamalat and (ii) Financial Criminology. The focus on IFC is in tandem with the government's aspiration of making Malaysia, the global hub is Islamic Finance. In view of this vision, fundamental research in financial criminology is important so that new policies or system can be developed to mitigate and prevent financial crime within the Islamic Finance industry and other economic sectors.

ARI's research in Islamic Financial Criminology is divided into three phases. In Phase One, IFC research projects will focus on both local and regional issues. As such, ARI will forge a lot smart research collaborations with other research centres, professional bodies, government agencies, regulatory & enforcement agencies, universities and the private sectors. The Phase One projects aim to identify specific IFC issues that necessitate the development of new poducts, models, framework or policies. ARI will collaborate with agencies such as JAKIM, IKIM, IBFIM, INCEIF, ISRA, PDRM, RMC, FIU, BNM, MACC, IIM, UIA, USIM, USM etc. In term of deliverables, at least fifty publications will be produced by Phase One initiatives.

Premised on specific issues identified in Phase One projects, Phase Two focuses on working on specific IFC products, models, framework and/or policies related to IFC. ARI invites international partners who are experts in their own fields to participate in Phase Two research projects. Several international players from Australia, USA, UK, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore have indicated their interest to participate.

In Phase Three, IFC products, models, policies are further enhanced. The main aim of Phase Three is to isolate elements of technology transfer and the development of systems into IFC products, models, framework or policies. Upon completion of Phase Three, IFC products will be launched and ARI hopes to become a leading research centre globally focusing on its niche "Islamic Financial Criminology".

Director ARI HICoE