Ken Rushton, former head of the listings review at UK regulator the Financial Services Authority, has challenged Malaysia's corporate governance regime. Speaking at the Corporate Governance Summit 2009 he outlined his concerns about the discrepancies between the regulatory principles and their practical implementation.

Speaking to a Malaysian business journalist from The Star Rushton said the investor base in the country was too weak and unsophisticated to insist that companies they invested in practised good governance.  “The culture here does not seem entirely supportive of good governance. And you cannot write a code of culture. You need more education. Education is part of ethics,” he said, adding that change had to come from the grassroots and not necessarily from the government.

“It seems to me a surprisingly immature market. The perception of Malaysia as far as corporate governance is concerned is not good overseas and that does not encourage foreign direct investment because foreign investors will only come in if they have confidence,” he said.