The topic of corp
orate governance has entered the agendas of many boards of directors in recent years. It
is no longer a topic for idealists or academics. More corporate leaders are convinced by the necessity of
good corporate governance. The Asian financial crisis, that s
tarted in 1997, partly originating from the
prolonged recession in Japan in the early 1990s
(Sachs, 1998)
,adversely affected the performance of
many East Asian economies. Malaysia was not spare
d from the contagious effects that followed
throughout 1998. It is generally believed that a lack of sound corporate governance was, to a certain
extent, a major reason for this economic crisis in the East Asian region
(D'Cruz, 1999; Khas, 2002; Kim,
1998).