Tay & Partners has released 3 new articles over the month of December. Click on the links below to read the articles
“Can I Take Along Confidential Information When Leaving My Job?” New Perspectives On The Law Of Confidentiality
By Leonard Yeoh & Chen Mei Yan
In this age of information, companies often face vulnerability to the theft of confidential information, which is usually entrusted to senior personnel. Striking a balance between protecting the employer’s interests and an employee’s right to seek employment in similar industry with gained knowledge and experience from previous employment is a persistent challenge.
Non-Use Revocation and Trademark Survival
By Ng Kim Poh & Veronnie Thu
Over the years, there has been growing awareness among individuals and businesses in Malaysia regarding the importance of safeguarding their trademarks. A considerable amount of time, effort and financial resources would have been invested in obtaining a trademark registration, which confers certain exclusive rights to the registered trademark owner, including the right to use and authorise others to use the trademark, as well as to obtain relief for trademark infringement.
Directors’ Remuneration and Directors’ Service Contracts: Legal Requirements in Malaysia
By Wong Mei Ying & Trisha Lim
In Malaysia, the payment of directors’ fees and benefits and directors’ service contracts are subject to certain legal requirements, which will be explored in this article. Failure to comply with these legal requirements may result in legal sanctions, as seen in the case set out at the end of this article.
Cold storage may still be a specialised segment within the logistics sector, but owners, developers, and investors have been attracted by its strong demand drivers and appealing fundamentals, including stable cash flows, longer lease terms, and the opportunity for portfolio diversification.
With the real estate needs for such facilities rapidly evolving, the increasingly complex requirements are raising the barriers to entry into the niche sector, though it’s done little to slow its rapid growth.
AMCHAM welcomes Ambassador Edgard D. Kagan back to Malaysia as the new U.S. Ambassador-designate.
Returning to Kuala Lumpur after a five-year break, we are delighted to be able to once again engage with him on matters that support U.S. business interests in the country.
To introduce the new Ambassador-designate to AMCHAM members, we will be organizing two Welcome Cocktails, one in Kuala Lumpur (January) and one in Penang (February). More details will be announced soon.
To learn more about the new Ambassador, you can view his bio here.
Western Digital has signed a collaboration with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, TNB Renewables Sdn. Bhd. to drive renewable energy implementation in its operations in Malaysia with the signing of the Corporate Green Power Agreement (CGPA) under the Corporate Green Power Program (CGPP).
Under this CGPA, Western Digital will acquire renewable energy from TNB Renewables Sdn. Bhd. The new solar power generation facility will be built for Western Digital’s consumption in Kedah. This would be deployed to three Western Digital operations sites in Malaysia, including SanDisk Storage Malaysia (SDSM), WD Media Penang and WD Media Johor, fulfilling 25% of the company’s overall energy requirement in the country. TNB Renewables seeks to provide competitively priced and consistent power supply sourced from renewable energy for various industries committed to sustainable practices and cleaner energy consumption.
Kuala Lumpur, 14 December 2023 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today released the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023 report, which tracks corporate disclosure practices across 18 parameters amongst 110 leading publicly listed corporations in the ASEAN region.
The report found that the 110 companies score an average Corporate Disclosure score of 6.95/10, based on public information from annual reports of the leading listed companies in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Malaysian companies had the highest average corporate disclosure score amongst the five ASEAN jurisdictions, at 7.71. Cyber risk disclosure and preparedness is the weakest area for ASEAN companies, according to the report.
ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023 Highlights:
• Diversity information — Over 75% of companies have more than 20% women in their workforce.
– Companies in Thailand are diversity champions, with 95% of companies having more than 20% women on the workforce.
• Climate risk disclosure — ASEAN companies fare well on climate change reporting, with 79% having net-zero goals in the annual reports.
– 90% of Malaysian companies (18 out of 20 companies) list net-zero goals and 70% mention Scope 3 metrics in their annual reports.
• Cyber risk disclosure — Only 41% of the 110 ASEAN companies provide adequate cyber risk disclosures.
– 50% of ASEAN companies undertake regular cyber audits or test their resilience to a cyber breach incident or ransomware attack.
– Only 35% of all ASEAN companies report cyber breaches. • Talent and culture information — 65% of ASEAN companies offering flexible, work-from-home policies, while 75% companies have health, safety and environment (“HSE”) metrics in place for the employees.
– Singaporean companies have the highest score for talent and culture, with 77% of the 30 companies offering hybrid work policies and 97% having HSE metrics for employees.
• Supply chain resilience — 62% of ASEAN companies disclose that they have adequately prepared for risks related to supply chain disruptions and taken steps to manage them.
Commenting on the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023 report, Amrit Singh Deo, a Senior Managing Director in the Strategic Communications segment at FTI Consulting and author of the report, said, “The ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023 scores reveal that ASEAN companies are performing well on most corporate disclosure parameters. Cyber risk disclosure and preparedness is an area of improvement across the ASEAN region, and this a similar trend in many jurisdictions across the world. A lot of risks that were earlier considered operational in nature, such as supply chain risk, talent risk, climate risk and cyber risk, are now strategic risks that could impact the financial health of companies in the long term if they are not managed properly. This has been the key pivot for management teams and board members in the post-lockdown period.”
About the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023
The ASEAN Disclosure Index 2023 is a report of corporate disclosure by 110 listed companies in ASEAN region as assessed on 18 publicly available information disclosure parameters. FTI Consulting has been publishing the annual ASEAN and India Disclosure Index reports since 2016 and took a hiatus during the lockdown years. The ASEAN and India Disclosure Index 2023 reports have a refreshed methodology, revised to reflect the changes in the external environment and voluntary disclosure standards expected from listed corporations. The full report and methodology can be found here: https://live.fticonsulting.com/asia-disclosure-index-2023.
Motorola Solutions Malaysia has once again been selected as one of the HR Asia’s Best Companies to Work for in Asia (Malaysia Chapter), in their 2nd consecutive year, for their best HR practices and high levels of employee engagement and excellent workplace cultures.
After winning the HR Asia’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award last year, the company is now honored to win the newly introduced HR Asia’s Most Caring Company award. This award celebrates Motorola Solutions Malaysia for implementing practices and policies that prioritizes the wellbeing of employees and promotes a great workplace culture and environment above all else.
“We are proud to be named in a very select group of companies recognized for the care of our employees as these prestigious awards are a testament to Motorola Solutions Malaysia’s continued excellence in nurturing a great workplace culture that are both contributed and equally experienced by our employees. For nothing we do happens without our employees being in the center of everything that we do in solving for safer.” said Solomon Lothu, Vice President of Penang Operations and Country Manager of Motorola Solutions Malaysia.
Congratulations, Motorola Solutions Malaysia!
