Nurturing attitudes for records management in Malaysian financial institutions

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to find out whether financial institutions in Malaysia comply with the relevant Acts and Regulations governing them, namely the Companies Act and Regulation 1966; the Bank Act and Financial Institution Act (BAFIA) 1989); the Bankers Book (Evidence Act 1989); and the Evidence Act). Also this study seeks to identify whether financial institutions develop appropriate and suitable attitudes to records management. It is the objective of this paper to investigate whether financial institutions comply with the identified Acts and Regulations; whether businesses easily understand the language used to phrase the Acts and Regulations; and whether the surveyed institutions adopt the right attitudes towards records management.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted survey as its method employing questionnaire and interview as the techniques to gather data. The survey involved ten financial institutions in Klang Valley (headquarters only), which was performed in 2005. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 11).FindingsThe findings reveal that financial institutions in Malaysia are aware of the previously mentioned Acts and Regulations. However, records management has never been a priority. This is because there is no enforcement of practice. For organizations failing to produce records/documents on request, the maximum penalty for being guilty for an offense (as stated in the Companies Act) is only 2,000 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately equivalent to sterling 285). Though respondents agreed that records management could give untold benefits and advantages, many do not take the appropriate steps as the need is not pressing and the penalty is not severe.Originality/valueThis paper presents original research of records management practice in this sector, of potential value to other jurisdictions.