Title: Is a risk management committee essential in moderating the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability disclosure?

Authors: Yuvaraj Ganesan; Vigneswary Poongan; Hasnah Haron

Addresses: Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia ' Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Pahang, Malaysia

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of corporate governance (CG) (board size, CEO duality, women on board, director experience and board independence) on sustainability disclosure (SD) and the moderating role of a risk management committee (RMC) in the relationship between CG and SD. As the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG) strongly suggests to all publicly listed companies in Bursa Malaysia that they have a RMC to achieve corporate excellence. This study utilised a cross-sectional research design whereby the data was collected from the 2016 annual reports of 120 companies. The results indicate that there is empirical evidence that board size and board independence does have impact on SD while CEO duality, women on boards and director experience do not have any influence. Furthermore, this study fails to show evidence of a moderating role of RMC. The findings may guide the relevant government agencies such Bursa Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia and others in developing appropriate plans, best practices and regulations for business environments.

Keywords: board characteristics; corporate governance; sustainability disclosure; risk management; CSR disclosure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSM.2019.099039

International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management, 2019 Vol.7 No.1/2, pp.152 - 171

Received: 25 May 2018
Accepted: 15 Nov 2018
Published online: 12 Apr 2019 *

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