CMDP: Module 1 Directors as Gatekeepers of Market Participants

OUTLINE MODULE 1 – DIRECTORS AS GATEKEEPERS OF MARKET PARTICIPANTS

Dr. Ismet Yusoff
Chief Executive Officer, Minority Shareholders Watch Group

Dr Ismet Yusoff is a seasoned corporate governance advocate with vast experience as a policymaker and strategist on governance and sustainability practices. He plays an active role in raising the corporate governance and sustainability standards of corporates in Malaysia by working closely with local and international stakeholders, including regulators, standard setters, professional bodies, and corporates.

Dr Ismet is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG). Before MSWG, Dr Ismet was the Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG) and served the Securities Commission Malaysia. He was instrumental in formulating Malaysia’s corporate governance and sustainability regulatory framework, best practices, and strategic priorities. These include the development of the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance, Malaysia’s Corporate Governance Strategic Priorities, Governance Code for Malaysia MSMEs, Guidelines on the Conduct of Directors of Listed Corporations and Their Subsidiaries, Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Capital Market Intermediaries and Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements, including Bursa Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Framework. He was also involved in developing analytics and machine learning systems for regulatory monitoring of governance disclosures, establishing the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia and other industry-led initiatives on corporate governance and sustainability.

Dr Ismet was the Secretariat for the ASEAN Corporate Governance Initiatives under the ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF). He managed the ASEAN corporate governance scorecard assessments involving six ASEAN countries and organised the inaugural ASEAN Corporate Governance Awards in Manila, Philippines.

Dr Ismet graduated from the International Islamic University Malaysia. His doctoral thesis was on the effect of corporate governance and capital structures on the performances of Malaysian publicly listed companies.

Lee Shih
Partner, Lim Chee Wee Partnership

Lee Shih is the Managing Partner of the firm and with over 15 years’ experience in dispute resolution, contentious restructuring and insolvency, and fraud and asset recovery.

He acts in cross-border disputes and has appeared in international arbitrations in Asia and Europe. He has acted in arbitrations involving disputes arising from commercial contracts, shareholders’ disputes, offshore construction contracts, and oil & gas matters.

His work also focuses on corporate litigation and shareholder disputes. He has acted as lead counsel in a variety of shareholder disputes, involving just and equitable winding up, oppression actions and derivative actions. He has acted for clients in bringing claims against directors for breaches of fiduciary duties. He is also the sole Malaysian member of ICC FraudNet, an international network of leading civil asset recovery lawyers in each country. In the sphere of fraud and asset recovery, he secured Malaysia’s first-ever injunction against persons unknown.

He also specialises in restructuring and insolvency. He advises and acts in liquidations, schemes of arrangement, receivership and corporate rescue matters. He has acted as counsel for several cross-border restructurings involving more than RM1 billion in debt and is active in corporate rescue mechanisms like judicial management. His textbook on ‘Companies Act 2016: The New Dynamics of Company Law in Malaysia’, which he co-authored, has been cited in court decisions in Malaysia on company law and corporate insolvency.

He has been described by the international legal directories as “well regarded for his expertise in company law, as well as restructuring and insolvency cases” and “the next generation of talented individuals: a forceful advocate in terms of intellectual prowess and punching well above his weight in terms of his level of seniority” (Chambers Asia-Pacific). Further, he has been listed as a “deeply knowledgeable international arbitration and insolvency specialist” (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific). He was awarded the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ across Asia at the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards.