The Malaysian network joins a growing international coalition committed to raising awareness of the true and fair requirement in company law, and how it can support companies to reveal their hidden costs of business.

Social Value International (SVI) and Social Value Malaysia (SVM) have confirmed a partnership to advance the True & Fair Project in Malaysia. SVM joins a coalition of networks – including SIMNA in Australia, EsImpact in Spain and Social Value Türkiye – that are working with SVI to accelerate the integration of sustainability information into mainstream financial accounting.

The True & Fair Project is a campaign hosted by SVI that challenges the way profit is currently calculated. It holds that company directors have a legal obligation to consider sustainability information when preparing financial statements, as per the true and fair requirement (or equivalent in local jurisdictions), and that without this, businesses can report profit whilst obscuring the environmental and social costs of how that profit was made. Using existing company legislation around the world and international accounting standards, the True & Fair Project seeks to advance a world where profit without harm becomes the norm.

The partnership with SVM will bring this work to one of South-East Asia's most dynamic economies, engaging companies, investors, accountants, auditors, lawyers, policymakers and regulators on what the requirement means in practice.

Hesly Afida Hashim, Chief Operating Officer, Social Value Malaysia who is also Project Director for True and Fair Malaysia campaign, says,

"This is an exciting moment for sustainable finance in Malaysia. The true and fair requirement is not a new obligation, as company directors already have a legal duty to ensure their accounts give a true and fair view. Our work with SVI will help companies and investors understand how it applies to them. By bringing together a range of actors, we can help ensure that the hidden costs of doing business are recognised within financial statements, rather than being confined to a non-financial report.”

Under the partnership, SVM will deliver a programme of activities designed to raise awareness and build capability across the Malaysian market. This includes a series of roundtable discussions with companies, investors, auditors, and other key stakeholders, direct support to companies integrating sustainability considerations into their financial statements, and working with investors seeking to enforce related disclosures across their portfolios.

The programme will also produce technical guidance and research to support both the voluntary uptake of the true and fair requirement by companies and investors, and efforts to mandate its interpretation in the context of sustainability issues.

Jeremy Nicholls, Co-Founder of and Senior Advisor to Social Value International, says,

"We are delighted to officially welcome Social Value Malaysia into the True & Fair Project. This partnership reflects the growing international momentum behind a simple idea: that the costs of doing business must be fully accounted for, and not hidden. The work SVM will lead in Malaysia is vital, both in its own right, and as part of the broader regional picture we are building across Asia-Pacific."

The partnership builds on regional research already underway. SVI is working with the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) to understand how the true and fair requirement applies across a number of Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, with Malaysia among those under active analysis. The SVM partnership will draw on and contribute to this body of work, helping to translate regional legal analysis into locally relevant guidance and advocacy.

Get involved

Companies, investors, and other stakeholders in Malaysia interested in understanding what the true and fair requirement means for them are encouraged to contact the SVM team directly at impact@socialvaluemalaysia.org.

For enquiries about the True & Fair Project more broadly, or partnership opportunities in other regions, please contact the SVI team.

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