The oil and gas services company has taken its former external auditor, KPMG, to court over issues the firm raised during its audit of the company’s accounts, which Serba Dinamik insists was done improperly.
Since then, the company has appointed Ernst & Young (EY) to conduct a special review of the issues flagged by KPMG and also appointed a number of new independent non-executive directors to preside over the investigation.
One of those new appointees, Johan Ishak, told FMT the audit committee would not hesitate to take appropriate and swift action to remedy any problems found by EY.
“If there are any issues arising from their review, the independent directors will use their power on the board to push the management to address the matters.
“We are clear and we are transparent and fair. If there is anything reported by any of these parties, and investigations have been confirmed that something wrong had been done, we will take the necessary action. It is our fiduciary duty to make sure things are put in place to address the matters,” he said.
Johan said the team from EY was in constant communication with the independent non-executive directors as well as the Securities Commission (SC) and Bursa Malaysia, ensuring that there was maximum transparency and accountability throughout the process.
“Bear in mind the communication is only between EY and the independent non-executive directors. The executive directors and management are not invited to the meetings we have with EY.
“I think that provides enough check and balance, coupled with the fact the independent non-executive directors are indeed independent, as we have no financial interest.”
He said the new independent non-executive directors, Siti Zaleha Sulaiman and Mohamed Farid Abu Hassan, provided the expertise the company needed to carry out the review effectively.
“We’ve got Siti Zaleha, who used to be the head of risk management at Bursa, and we also have Farid Abu Hassan, who used to be the chief of the Special Branch.
“As you can see, the experience of these independent non-executive directors is quite complementary and relevant to what we are dealing with now at Serba Dinamik.
“We want to do things the right way. If there’s anything wrong, we need to take action, whether internal or external,” he said.