Corporate Ethics and Financial Reporting Quality: A Thematic Analysis from Accountants’ Perspectives

Abstract

A growing number of incidents concerning ethical misbehavior in business have recently attracted substantial attention in Malaysia. Despite the country’s declaration of a strong corporate governance policy, bolstered by the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG), unethical behaviors and a lack of integrity within corporations remain a concern. The problem’s pervasiveness has threatened the quality of Malaysian firms’ financial reporting. This research collects accountants’ viewpoints on the present implementation of corporate ethical practices among corporate governance practitioners, as well as the effect of corporate ethics commitment on financial reporting quality in Malaysian public listed companies. The data was gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews with four (4) senior professional accountants from Malaysian publicly listed companies. Thematic analysis of the study identifies four themes: “corporate ethical values,” “corporate ethics commitment attributes,” “financial reporting quality features,” and “best practice of corporate governance.” The findings can be used to improve Malaysian public listed firms’ ethical corporate behavior and financial reporting quality.