STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ON A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR MALAYSIA 61. Efforts by Bursa Malaysia and the SSM to require and encourage CSR and sustainability reporting are positive steps. However, it is the Commission’s view that these reporting measures need to be significantly strengthened. Companies have a wide margin of discretion to determine what information to report: (a) Bursa Malaysia’s listing requirements require issuers to include in their annual reports a statement describing their CSR activities or practices, as well as those of their subsidiaries; if there are none, they are to issue a statement to that effect.63 However, there are no binding requirements or non-binding guidance on the content of the CSR statement. Bursa Malaysia has evaluated the corporate governance disclosures of listed issuers to monitor the level and quality of compliance; this was done using a sample of 300 issuers and a benchmark based on the principles in the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance. Findings of the evaluation were publicly disclosed;64 (b) Malaysia’s National Annual Corporate Report Awards (NACRA) serve to incentivise more robust CSR reporting. The NACRA criteria for corporate social responsibility reports encourages reporting on issues that may be relevant to preventing and mitigating human rights risks and impacts, such as providing information on a company’s risk analysis/management framework, non-compliance with laws, regulations and codes, structured engagement with all stakeholders, health and safety management system and environmental impact assessments.65 However, the criteria does not make clear the linkages between these issues and corporate human rights risks and impacts. (c) Bursa Malaysia strongly encourages listed issuers to include a separate statement on management discussion and analysis in their annual reports. Bursa Malaysia’s corporate disclosure guide recommends that this statement include, among other things, information on “significant features of regulatory, environmental, social and governance issues that could affect the performance of the group,” and the approach or action taken by the listed company in dealing with the effects or outcome of such matters on its business activities.66 However, no examples of these issues or information were given. (d) The SSM’s best practice circular on corporate responsibility disclosure and reporting has highlighted international reporting standards and tools that have human rights principles and performance indicators.67 However, the extent to which Malaysian companies have taken up these international standards and tools is unclear. (e) The SSM has included a non-financial reporting provision in its 2013 draft Companies Bill. This provision takes the lead from the U.K. Companies Act. The latter imposes a mandatory duty on directors of certain companies to produce a strategic report that includes information about environmental matters (including the impact of the company’s business on the environment), the company’s employees, and social, community and human rights issues (to the extent necessary for an understanding of the development, performance or position of the company’s business).68 Unlike the U.K. legislation, the reporting proposed in the draft Companies Bill appears purely discretionary for all companies and omits any reference to human rights issues.69 21 (f) Notably, Malaysian issuers have generally used their CSR statements to report on philanthropic activities.70