KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- Clearer legal provisions, including prescribed accounting standards and penalties for misreporting financial statements, will be included in proposed amendments to the Tabung Haji (TH) Act 1995 to tighten financial reporting rules in line with recommendations by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Dr Zulkifli Hasan said the changes were intended to prevent a recurrence of the issues highlighted by the RCI in its report on TH management and operations from 2014 to 2020.
“All relevant RCI recommendations have been reviewed for inclusion in the proposed amendments to the TH Act, including the suitability of a Securities Commission oversight and supervisory framework for TH’s fund management and investments,” he said when presenting his ministerial briefing on the RCI report at the special Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Zulkifli said a task force chaired by the TH chairman and comprising the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor and Securities Commission (SC) chairman had been established to examine the matter.
“I have been informed that the task force has agreed to recommend that TH’s fund management and investment activities be regulated by the SC, while haj management would remain under the supervision of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Religious Affairs. TH would remain a single, intact entity,” he said.
On excessive bonuses, forensic audits and enforcement, Zulkifli said the RCI had recommended ending the practice of awarding excessively high bonuses to staff.
He said TH has since adopted a more measured bonus policy based on its overall financial performance and the achievement of key performance indicators by the institution and its employees. The payments are subject to approval by the religious affairs and finance ministers.
The minister said TH had also implemented a recommendation requiring profit distribution rates to be announced on the basis of audited annual financial statements since 2022.
The measure was in line with the RCI’s call for clearer provisions governing the calculation of TH’s profit distributions. Its financial statements have also fully complied with the relevant accounting standards since 2018, he said.
Zulkifli said the RCI also recommended a comprehensive overhaul of the TH Act 1995, including specific eligibility criteria and expertise-based selection procedures for board members, as well as a prohibition on active politicians serving as chairman or board members.
“TH has implemented leadership appointments, including those of board members and management, based on integrity, capability and experience under ‘fit and proper’ criteria aligned with BNM’s framework,” he said.
“We actually have many capable, competent and trustworthy technocrats and individuals of integrity who can lead TH. The institution is now in a very strong position in terms of haj management, investments, finances and its overall operations,” he said.
Apart from the ministerial briefing, the special sitting was held to allow MPs to scrutinise and debate the 211-page report released publicly on July 29 after the government decided its findings should be disclosed.
Zulkifli and Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan are scheduled to wind up the debate later.
“All relevant RCI recommendations have been reviewed for inclusion in the proposed amendments to the TH Act, including the suitability of a Securities Commission oversight and supervisory framework for TH’s fund management and investments,” he said when presenting his ministerial briefing on the RCI report at the special Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Zulkifli said a task force chaired by the TH chairman and comprising the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor and Securities Commission (SC) chairman had been established to examine the matter.
“I have been informed that the task force has agreed to recommend that TH’s fund management and investment activities be regulated by the SC, while haj management would remain under the supervision of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Religious Affairs. TH would remain a single, intact entity,” he said.
On excessive bonuses, forensic audits and enforcement, Zulkifli said the RCI had recommended ending the practice of awarding excessively high bonuses to staff.
He said TH has since adopted a more measured bonus policy based on its overall financial performance and the achievement of key performance indicators by the institution and its employees. The payments are subject to approval by the religious affairs and finance ministers.
The minister said TH had also implemented a recommendation requiring profit distribution rates to be announced on the basis of audited annual financial statements since 2022.
The measure was in line with the RCI’s call for clearer provisions governing the calculation of TH’s profit distributions. Its financial statements have also fully complied with the relevant accounting standards since 2018, he said.
Zulkifli said the RCI also recommended a comprehensive overhaul of the TH Act 1995, including specific eligibility criteria and expertise-based selection procedures for board members, as well as a prohibition on active politicians serving as chairman or board members.
“TH has implemented leadership appointments, including those of board members and management, based on integrity, capability and experience under ‘fit and proper’ criteria aligned with BNM’s framework,” he said.
“We actually have many capable, competent and trustworthy technocrats and individuals of integrity who can lead TH. The institution is now in a very strong position in terms of haj management, investments, finances and its overall operations,” he said.
Apart from the ministerial briefing, the special sitting was held to allow MPs to scrutinise and debate the 211-page report released publicly on July 29 after the government decided its findings should be disclosed.
Zulkifli and Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan are scheduled to wind up the debate later.