Dangers of Drugs

There are many persuasive arguments you can give to convince middle school students not start using drugs. One argument is the pain you would put your family through. Not only is it dangerous to using the drugs, it is also very dangerous to be around the people that sell the drugs. One of the best arguments I could give it the very harmful affects that the drug does to your body. There are endless arguments that you could give to students not to buy and use drugs but I believe those are the best arguments. Using drugs are very dangerous to not only you but your family too.When people start using drugs, they do not think about the pain and suffrage that your family will have to go through. Your family will have to go through the challenge of overcoming your addiction with you, which will put a strain on your relationship with them. It would be very hard for your mother or father to see you using a dangerous drug. Not only will it affect you but it will affect the people that you love most. When somebody said â€Å"drugs† they only think about using them. They do not think about the extremely dangerous people that you have to be around to get the drugs.These types of people are not nice, and could hurt you. These people have probably committed crimes and have been in prison. There is so much more to the word â€Å"drug† than people think about, such as the people you have to be associated with. The first time that you use a drug nobody thinks that they will be addicted to it. When addiction takes place you have to use the drug everyday, even multiple times a day. After using the drug for so long is does major damage to your lunges, mouth, skin, liver, kidneys, and even your facial features. These are major parts of the body and most are replicable.Using drugs after awhile will eventually kill you. After learning that all those things that take into account when using drugs- would you ever try them? After hearing three great arguments on why not to u se drugs, I believe those three are the best. Using drugs not only affects you but also your loved ones too. Being around those types of people are potentially dangerous. Last but not least, the dangerous affects that the drugs could do to your body. No one deserves a life of addiction; so I hope that you have learned something and will never touch a dangerous drug.

Growth in the informal tourism sector in Sri Lanka Essay Example

Growth in the informal tourism sector in Sri Lanka Essay Example Growth in the informal tourism sector in Sri Lanka Essay Growth in the informal tourism sector in Sri Lanka Essay Sir Lankan Tourism Stronger Growth in the Informal Sector? The new breed of tourists The Flash -Packers Sacral Malthusian There is no doubt that the overall tourist arrivals to Sir Lankan has shown YOU growth in the past few years. Almost all hotels are returning healthy revenue, occupancy and profitability figures. However there are some rumblings from the larger established hotels that the performance has been not all that spectacular as compared to previous years. From an overall country perspective it is indeed quite easy to check the truth behind these concerns. To do this, one has only to study in greater detail the growth In the large and small establishments separately as reflected In the Foreign Guest Nights and published by Sir Lankan Tourism Development Authority (SALAD) Itself. Foreign Guest Nights (FOG) are recorded directly from Individual hotel establishments, which indicate the actual number of 1 nights spent in a particular hotel by foreigners. (There is also separate data on Local Guest Nights). The SALAD also publishes a further sub-division of Figs into two categories, called FOG in Graded Establishments and Supplementary Establishments. Graded Establishments are categorized by SALAD as conventional star class hotels, while Supplementary Establishments are the smaller guest houses and home stay units (the so called Informal sector), registered with SALAD. The SALAD also tracks the average number of days a tourist has spent In the country, which has been In the order of 9. 8 10 days per violators. Dividing the Figs by the length of stay, would then reveal the exact number of foreigners who have stayed in the hotels and other establishments. Hence it is not a major exercise to ascertain separately the actual number of Derived from SALAD statistics : Analysis The total number of tourists as recorded by the Emigration department and published by the SALAD for 2011 was 855,975, while the real tourists as determined by FOG statistics of the SALAD is 725,889, which is a 16 % leakage factor, of tourists of this leakage could also be the tourists who stay in the large number of unregistered small Bed and Breakfast units that have sprung up in all popular tourist 2 cities on the round trip circuit, whose statistics are not caught up in the SALAD records. Also significant from the analysis is that there was a growth of 21% in all the graded establishments, while the (informal) supplementary sector grew by a spectacular This shows clearly that the informal sector has grown much faster than the formal sector for 2011 (The breakdown of 2012 statistics giving FOG is still not available with the SALAD). The Future So what of the future? Should we all rush to set up small B units and stop the development of large scale conventional hotels? Should conventional hotels drop their rates drastically, to try and attract the lower end market? These are all knee-Jerk responses. What Sir Lankan tourism basically needs today is a tragic approach to growth. 3 The Informal Sector and the New Breed of Tourist Certainly, the growth in the informal sector is very interesting. It is fuelled by strong social media, networking and internet platforms, together with the fact that traveling and exploring Sir Lankan today is very safe and quite feasible to do on ones own, rather than depend on guided tours as a few years before. Hence, it is no surprise that a new segment of adventure seeking tourists are fuelling this growth, spending less on their hotel utilizing no frills budget on accommodation, and spending more n exploration and adventure. This new segment of tourists are called Flashback, a combination of flash (as in fancy), with backpacking, used to refer to an affluent backpacker. Blackjacking has an association of more disposable income while traveling, and has been defined simply as backpacking with a bigger budget. It includes the use of a backpack or other luggage that is easily carried for long distances or long periods of time; the use of public transport; inexpensive lodging; a longer duration to the trip when compared with conventional vacations; and an interest in meeting the locals as well s seeing the sights. It is typically associated with young adults, who generally have This is not really a bad situation. Actually, this market segment should be strengthened as it is a vibrant driving force, which brings exposure and limelight to the country. It is precisely due to this growth, that Sir Lankan has found favor as Lonely Planets No. 1 destination for 2013. It is this segment of the market that grew some 80%, and which is still reliant on guide books such as Lonely Planet, and GAPS Map interfaces. This growth in the informal sector products is fast catching up with the conventional toll segment. SALAD statistics indicate close upon 15,000 rooms in the conventional hotel 4 category while the supplementary (informal) category rooms have risen to 11,600. If the unregistered informal category, which is possibly quite large, is added to this, it will be evident that the informal category of rooms already out-numbers the formal sector. This is indeed an eye opener, where possibly in the future, the informal tourism industry will have a greater say in setting the course of tourism of the country. Conventional Hotels So what has happened to the conventional hotel segment? They have far too long rested on their laurels, enhancing their performance on the post war spectacular growth in numbers and revenues (room rates). No careful redesign of product and service offerings has been done on a major scale, to add value and greater experience, which seems to be what the market is demanding. The conventional hotels with large number of rooms offering the same old restaurant options and facilities are lost in the crowd. There are no real unique selling propositions or differentiating aspects. On the further end of the scale, the higher end boutique hotels offering luxurious, rationalized and custom built products and service offerings are succeeding in maintaining high growth. Conclusion Sir Lankan tourism therefore, needs to take a step backward, and call time out, to take a good hard look at the new market forces that are impacting the industry, and causing paradigm shifts in the way we need to do things. New value added products and service offerings are needed, breaking out of the conventional shackles to help Sir Lankan tourism grow in a sustainable manner, and to become a mature tourism destination. All photographs by the Author 5

Write a Term Paper

Write a Term Paper Write a Term Paper Write a Term Paper If you have to write a term paper, it is useful to have an excellent sample of a term paper in front of you. Below is a short sample of a term paper on religious aspects of abortion. is a professional team of writers who are able to help you with writing a term paper on any topic! Custom term paper is fully referenced and has no copy/paste material! Our paper writing blog has many tips on writing and absolutely free samples and examples of term papers Term Paper Sample (Excerpt) Within recent years various Protestant denominations have issued policy statements in support of the reform of abortion statutes. Neither Jews nor Protestants try to set an exact moment when the fetus has a soul. In Jewish theological writing the fetus is thought to be part of its mother and not a person until it is born. For example, in the religious conversion of a pregnant woman, her unborn child is automatically included in the conversion and requires no further ceremony. The embryo is not believed to be a living thing until the full nine-month gestation period is complete. Thus, because it is not a living thing until it is born, abortion is not considered a crime. Though there is some disagreement about when the soul enters the fetus, for most Jewish theologians this has no bearing on the practical, earthly issue of abortion. They consider the moment of ensoulment as belonging to those secrets of God. The soul's immortality and the moment it enters the fetus is not, for them, relevant to the problem since, they say, abortion does not affect the soul. As David M. Feldman describes it in his book Birth Control in Jewish Law: Before birth the embryo is not a person; from the moment of birth and on, it is; the disposition of the soul, being pure to begin with, is unaffected. The Jewish and Catholic doctrines have once again parted company. The Japanese Shinto religion also holds that the fetus is human only when it is born. Since theological dialogue influences the Church's position at any given time, and since this position can be changed, the moral argument about abortion rages today with greater intensity than ever between those who would change the Church's attitude toward abortion, and those who believe the current attitude is the right one. The crux of the debate is still the question of when the fetus becomes a human being with a legal, moral, ethical and medical right to life which cannot be taken away by anyone including his mother. The viewpoint expressed by Catholic theologians is that since no one can say at what moment the fetus has received a soul, killing it at any point before birth, no matter how soon after conception, is nothing short of murder. Others, including some Catholics, say that abortion should be legal until the baby is able to support itself outside the womb. Write a Term Paper: Custom Service Online If you need help with writing your term paper from scratch, you have an excellent opportunity to try our writing services with a discount. Just write us a note with a discount in a subject line and we will definitely give you at least 10% discount on our term paper writing services! Our term paper help is legal and tailored to your personal needs and expectations!

Knowledge can be gained from books and scientific observation. What Essay

Knowledge can be gained from books and scientific observation. What are some other important sources of knowledge andd why are they valuable - Essay Example The people from whom we learn something from are normally designated as authority. Apart from family, other common authority figures are celebrities. There is a lot of information that you can learn from authorities. However, this does not mean that they are always right. You can use rationalization to come up with many amazing facts. This is to say that when you are presented with a fact, you can deduce something else from it. For example, if all cats have hair and Baggs is a cat. Then Baggs has got hair. When using deductions to learn something new, the original two statements have to be true. However, deduction and rationality has its own downsides which can be referred to as logical fallacies. An example of a fallacy is as follows: All cats have got hair. Baggs has got hair. Therefore, Baggs is a cat. The third statement is a fallacy in itself and it can apply in any complex situation. That is why there is need to be extra careful when deducing facts. If you do not have information at hand about something, it is better not to deduce anything as doing so might lead to problems and misinformation. Intuition is one of the natural reactions that are very hard to understand, but it is one of the most accurate sources of information. Insight is the knowledge you have about something and it can be learned from books, scientific observation or experience. In most cases, intuition and insight go hand in hand. Intuition and instinct are somehow interlinked. Intuition is a like a small voice that tells you what to do and instinct is the action that results from the intuitive feeling. If you have some insight into something, then you will intuitively react to it the right way. For instance, you will know to slap at a mosquito when it bites you. This intuitive action is as a result of the insight you have about mosquitoes. Relying on intuition alone to come up with solutions to tough

Interpersonal communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Interpersonal communication - Essay Example In the given scenario there is an interpersonal communication happening between a supervisor and two employees. In the discussion, the participants are professionals working in an advertising agency where Marie is placed as a director, Steve and Jane are working as a manager, and Paul is a part of a different department. The verbal exchange between the three persons i.e. Marie, Jane and Steve is a part of the interpersonal communication. The discussion starts with a pleasant morning exchange of greetings at the office between Marie and Jane. Jane who is a manager, wanted to discuss about a competitor firm and their poaching of a developmental director. Jane thought it to be a positive step for the competitor firm. Jane proposed to get them as their potential client to make a positive impact on their own business. Jane also proposed to get the company as their new agent. Here, in the conversation the ‘Politeness Theory’, proposed by Goffman, is being used. The theory is called as the theory of face, as it explores the communication among power relations, social distance relations; solidarity and also the seriousness that is required for the issue in discussion are evident in the conversation (Holmes & Stubbe, â€Å"Doing Disagreement at Work a sociolinguistic Approach†). In the discussion, there is a disagreement evident to the proposal of Jane from Marie’s end. As Marie observes that Jane already has other important business dealings in hand so she would not be able to take risk of letting Jane go ahead with the proposed deal. So, there is a disagreement between the director and the subordinate. Jane did agree to Marie’s concern but showed Marie some recent statistics and also showed very able persuasion and negotiation skills to convince Marie to let her go ahead with the proposal. Marie thought of assigning the task that Jane had, to Steve, another manager in the advertising agency.

Philosophy - animal rights by Peter Singer Essay

Philosophy - animal rights by Peter Singer - Essay Example In order to prove the hollowness of this ‘speciesism’, Singer provides the example of the history of slavery. The White slave owners never took the sufferings of the Black slaves into consideration because their moral concerns were limited to White people (135). Thus, according to him, if ‘racism’ is not moral, ‘speciesism’ too is immoral. Secondly, Singer opines that animals have interests because they have feelings like pain (135). Also, Singer points out animals have equal rights despite their lack of communication skills and intelligence because lunatics and infants too enjoy equal rights. The scholar says that equality in quality is not a necessary factor for giving moral value to nonhuman things. He claims that even within the human species, there is wide disparity in qualities like intelligence, physical strength, ability to communicate, and so on. However, the problem with Singer’s opinion is that in his effort to protect animal rights, he forgot the fact that humans too are animals with the right to protect their own interests like all other animals do. It is for Singer to show a cow or a goat that tries to preserve some grass for another species before filling its own stomach. The mistake with Singer’s opinion is that he failed to acknowledge the fact that all advanced species take maximum advantage of the circumstances to promote their own welfare. Singer admits the fact that there are pests in nature. Then he has to admit that humans are just another group of pests that takes advantage of the suitable circumstances to grow. This is the law of nature. Another vulnerability of his opinion is that he has mixed morality with nature. The mere fact is that morality is just a social construct which is purely aimed at human welfare. Moreover, the concept of morality, as he admits, is not concrete. It varies from time to time, and population to population. According to the

Comparing Disclosure Based Regulation And Merit Based Regulation Finance Essay

Comparing Disclosure Based Regulation And Merit Based Regulation Finance Essay There are tw0 basic models of regulatory system which is the supervision framework for securities market which is a merit based regulation and disclosure based regulation. These regulation systems are important to provide adequate investor protection and regulate business practices or codes of conduct that reduces systemic risks. There are several countries which have adopted the disclosure based regulation which are Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The countries which are still following the merit based systems are China and Philippines but to certain extend.  [1]   MBR The recognition of the need for a securities regulator to ensure investor protection and market integrity is located in the Securities Commission Act 1993 (SCA), under which the Securities Commission (SC) is established. Section 15(1) of the SCA requires the SC to, which control all matters relating to securities and to take all reasonable measures to preserve the confidence of investors in the securities market by ensuring sufficient security for such investors. The principal thrust of the regulatory framework currently applied by the SC is merit-based. Section 32(4) of the Securities Commission Act 1993 (SCA), give power that all proposals that involve issues or offers of securities to the public be subjected to the SCs prior approval. The SC has the discretion to approve the proposals with such revisions and subject to such terms and conditions as it deems fit. The SC also has the power to reject corporate proposals if it is reasonably satisfied that these proposals are not in the best interest of the public company and/or the investing public  [2]  . Authorities regulate securities offering Under the MBR, The authorities regulate the securities offering by protecting and shielding the investor by ensuring that the offering of the securities of the companys is judged by the authorities to be fair, just and equitable. Under this approach, the regulators or the authorities would make an assessment regarding the companys viability, quality and capabilities of the companys management, its suitability for listing and taking regard of the public interest before approving any issuance proposal regarding the companys securities.  [3]  For example, section 34(4) of the SCA, issues or offers of securities is subjected to the approval from the SC. Issuers and advisers disclose to authorities Under the MBR model, the issuers and advisers disclosed all information regarding the companys business to the authorities or the market regulators. These are because under this type of model, the market regulator needs to approve first the securities before the investor can be allowed to invest in the companys. This is for the purpose to protect the investor. Authorities reviews investment merits of offering Regulators review each transaction according to its perceived merits. The evaluation is completed in two stages which is firstly, adequacy of disclosure is assessed then, and the merits of the transaction are subjected to value judgment. Merit-based regulation assumes that the market regulators are better informed than investors and can better decide the merits of transactions on their behalf.  [4]  These merit judgment is the indication whether the companys can provide safe securities in making business in order to protect the investment made by the investor. Advantages of MBR Model In merit based regulation, it is a paternalistic attempt to improve or to develop the fairness between the relationship between the sellers and buyers of the securities in the capital market. These models also act as a shield to protect the public investors from the risks involved in acting on impulse. This is because the authorities had made deep valuation and merits regarding the companys business in order to approve the securities issued by the companys. This model or regulatory system is particularly suitable to be adopted for Malaysias emerging capital market which has a large proportion of financially unsophisticated retail investors. This is also reduce or minimizing the possibility of promoters of public companies exploiting these less sophicated investors to use as to their own advantages. In the securities market, the Securities Commission is also able to ensure that mechanism in place is working well in order to prevent unscrupulous and unethical practices in the issue or offer of the securities by the companies. By ensuing that the mechanism place is working, the investor would have minimized the risk of losing their investment by the unscrupulous and unethical practices of some companys who would provide false or inadequate information regarding their business. But, the ultimate decision still lies within the investor. This is because the decision and the evaluation of the security offered lies with the investing public. The securities commission will not give a guarantee that the investment made by the investor would get a return or profit.  [5]   The SC has the power to check and ensure that the securities that are offered by the issuers are fairly and reasonably priced. Disadvantages of MBR Model This is regards to the public interest where the public investor would make their decision in investing their money in the companys based on the SC. The approach of MBR posed a problem of moral hazard. This is because when the market regulators or the SC gives their approval of the merits of a particular company, it exist danger that investors will perceive that the corporation will be a good investment as the SC had given their approval after making some merits regarding the business of the companys. This would lead to an impression whereby the investor did not need to individually evaluate the merits or risk of investing in that company. The investor would totally leave it to the market regulator to make the research. By using these models, the regulatory approach of MBR restricts entrepreneurs and investors choice in making decision in choosing the right company to invest by limiting the scope of investment that is offered to them. This is because only SC will give and provide the necessary approval in order to make the issued security to be approved. If the companys does not comply the guideline given and the SC does not approve the issue offered, thus limiting the option available to the investor in investing their money. This approach also denies certain ventures of access to public funds unless the issuer of securities agrees to modify their offering according to the pre-requisite set by the SC. The issue that always arises is that the SC and the issuers of securities tend to have conflicting views as to how and the extent to which a proposed venture or transaction will be beneficial to investor in general. The SC is also known to be more conservative in its judgment and normally will not approve highly risky securities to be offered to the public. The merit based regulation also provided that by giving much protection to the investor, this will take the bargaining power from the securities offeror or issuers and the power will be switch to the investor instead. The protection is significant because the issuers of the securities need to raise funds at a substantial discount from the actual price of their securities. From this Market philosophy, this over-protection of the investing public had compelled issuers to raise funds at a substantial discount from the actual value of their securities or add to the perception of initial investors that they would be guaranteed a premium when the corporate body is launched onto the marketplace. Basic principle of DBR The basic principle of DBR is the need for the issuers and intermediaries offering securities to provide investors with sufficient, accurate and timely disclosure of all relevant information regarding the companys business, prospects, finances and the terms of the securities in order to allow investors to better evaluate the risks and merits of their investment.  [6]  This is to allow the investor to make they own informed investment decisions. Usually is done through the use of prospectus which focuses whether the companies comply with the standard of disclosure required. For example, in Malaysia, the companies that is listed in Bursa Malaysia, one of the listing requirements of the standard disclosure is to have at least two annual reports that can be inspect by the investors in order to make their decision to invest. The investor are expected to carry out their own due diligence or with the assistance of expert or professional such as lawyers and accountant because the investo r hold a higher level of responsibilities in evaluating the risk or particular offering based on the disclosed information before investing.  [7]   Authorities regulate disclosure of information in securities offering Under DBR, the regulation of the disclosure or the standard of the disclosure in securities offering is on the authorities where the authorities will provide the guidelines for the company in disclosing the relevant information pertaining the companys business, finances, prospects and terms of securities. The burden is put on the issuers of the securities and advisers and not on the authorities. Issuers and adviser disclosed to investor Under the model Of DBR, the issuers of the securities will provide sufficient information according to the Securities Commission Guidelines regarding the disclosure of information regarding their business. The advisers which are normally experts or professionals such as accountants, lawyers and other technical experts need to have play their role in the preparation of prospectus for the investing public. These are because each of these adviser or experts can be held liable for a defective prospectus under the DBR. The due diligence process is for the purposes of preparing good and complete prospectus and involves performing reasonable investigate work in order to determine that the prospectus does not contain any material omission or false information. Financial advisers and experts in particular are expected to have a very high standard of reasonable care. An adviser has an obligation to make a reasonable investigation not just for the purpose of its own due diligence defence but al so as a duty to the investing public who will be relying on the opinion and recommendations of the advisers. In order to minimize their potential risk, the expert of professionals must make due diligence enquiries.  [8]   Investors determine investment merits of offering In the DBR System, the investor cannot expect that the securities regulator to protect them forever. In order to invest, the investor cannot invest blindly. The investor must make their own research and collect data and information regarding the companys business. Investors have to evaluate and assess the merits of any security being issued or offered before making any investment decision It would become more apparent that investors would have to change their laid-back attitude. They can no longer take for granted that securities being issued or offered have already passed the regulators investment merit review. Instead, the information necessary for the investors themselves to evaluate the investment merit of a security will be available. Investors must also take a more active interest in the companies they invest in emphasis should always be placed on fundamentals and long-term performance rather than short-term profit. Investors should be concerned about ensuring that their rights and interests as shareholders are protected, and that greater transparency and accountability are shown by the directors or principal officers of the companies concerned. Ultimately the effectiveness of the disclosure regime to be adopted in Malaysia will depend on investors themselves. They must also rise to the occasion by paying closer attention to the affairs of the corporations in wh ich they invest. Under a disclosure-based regulation, investment analysts and financial journalists would have access to more relevant information to enable them to make more detailed analysis, research and assessment of each security issue or offering and can conclude at a better finding and recommendation. This is of particular importance in Malaysia in view of the large proportion of retail investors, some of whom lack the technical expertise and or the time needed to evaluate the web of information disclosed by issuers of securities. These investors may need to rely on the analysis disseminated by the investment analysts and financial journalists to make better informed investment decisions.  [9]   Advantages of DBR There are several advantages of the DBR regulatory model system. Basically, this would result in a more transparent and informed market whereby companies have to improve their quality of disclosure to facilitate potential decision making by potential investors. By upgrading the quality, the investors have more choice and more information pertaining the business and the finances of the companies before making any investment in the companies. Investor must know and get the information given by the issuer of securities to because the investor will hold the burden of all the responsibility towards their investment decision. One of the major advantages of DBR, the companies can raise more funds at a lower or cheaper cost. This is because it is based on the assumption that the higher level of transparency will lead to a greater evaluation risk by underwriters which would then contribute to a lesser cost in raising the fund which give the issuers companies the power to price it assets at a higher premium rates.  [10]   Another advantage under the DBR is where the role of the regulator is to ensure that the structure of the market is consistent and efficient for the market In order for the investor to make a decision. The regulators will ensure that the information given by the companies are disclosed so that the investor will become the judge in making judgment of the merits of alternative investment, so that the regulator would only emphasis on disclosure and eradication of fraud.  [11]   According to analysis, by shifting towards the disclosure based regulation, the benefit that the securities market will enjoy is that the increased of efficiency of the Malaysian capital market by removing the barriers to competitiveness which is present in the old merit regulatory system.  [12]   A higher standard of disclosure by the companies is ensuring by the regulatory bodies. This is because the companies are expected to follow the guidelines of disclosure of the information according to the SC. This would give more chance to the investor in making their own research of the accountability of the companies before making any investment. The Ground for the shift of regulatory model from MBR to DBR The Securities Commission continues to play an important role in providing direction on broad policy matters and in enforcing the securities laws and regulations. Its role is to ensure that the incentives and structure of the market are consistent with efficiency, fairness and stability. The table below shows the ground for the shift to DBR regulatory system. Three Tenets of DBR Disclosure The responsibility of directors of public companies is to ensure that all material information required by the public to make investment decisions is provided accurately, in full and on a timely basis. In disclosing such information, the question that is need to be asked is whether Has any important piece of information been omitted? Is any part of the information misleading? Is the information complete and accurate? Investors rely on available information when deciding where and when they should invest their money. There is a need for information when new securities are offered in the primary market. There is also a need for information when dealing in securities already traded in the secondary market. Disclosure of information therefore benefits investors by facilitating them to make investment decisions. Companies intending to offer securities to the public are required to fully disclose information about the affairs of the companies and the securities which are being offered, in the offering documents or prospectuses. For a public listed company, disclosure obligations are stipulated in the Listing Rules of the stock exchanges. Due Diligence In preparing the information to be disclosed to the public, directors of public companies must undertake a due diligence exercise to verify and ensure that the information to be released is accurate and timely. Due diligence is a process by which inquiries are conducted to ensure that information to be disclosed is true, sufficient and timely. Due care must also be given to ensure that there is no omission of material information. Material information is information which would reasonably be expected by rational investors to facilitate their investment decisions. Information that can affect the trading activities and prices of the companys securities must be released immediately. The onus then lies with the investor to consider and weigh the information provided before making decisions. Following amendments to the Securities Commission Act 1993 (SCA) in 1995, which placed a higher standard of responsibility on promoters, directors, and advisers in respect of disclosures, the Securities Commission released a publication on Due Diligence Practices in August 1996. The publication is intended to explain the importance of due diligence, especially given the criminal liabilities imposed on persons responsible for submission of proposals to the Securities Commission under section 32 of the SCA. In March 1999, another publication on Due Diligence Guidelines on Submission of Proposals to the Securities Commission was published. It was jointly issued by the Association of Merchant Banks in Malaysia, Federation of Public Listed Companies, MIA, MACPA and MAICSA. The publication, in detailing the due diligence process, the question whether 1) Who will be held responsible for conducting the due diligence? 2) Who should be included in a Due Diligence Working Group(DDWG)? 3) What should the terms of reference and role of the DDWG be? 4) What is the methodology used in conducting the due diligence exercise? The publication also includes a due diligence checklist for an initial public offering and sets out clearly the roles and responsibilities of the various parties involved in the exercise. Corporate Governance The timely, accurate and transparent disclosure of material information is an integral component of ensuring good corporate governance. Boards of directors of companies need to be open about the businesses they direct and this includes transparency in corporate activities and transactions. This is essential so that shareholders can exercise their rights constructively. However, they can only do so if they are provided the relevant information. Apart from compliance with laws and regulations that constitutes one aspect of ensuring that directors perform their fiduciary duties properly, there are also codes of best practices which the directors are expected to observe. Among the codes to be observed are The Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance, issued by the Finance Committee on Corporate Governance and The Company Directors Code of Ethics issued by the Registry of Companies.  [13]   Time Frame for Shift to DBR The shift to DBR takes effect over a period of five years under three phases, beginning in 1996, with full DBR expected to be achieved by the year 2001. An outline of the time frame and focus of the shift is set out below: Table 2: Time Frame for Shift from MBR to DBR