Covid-19 & Corporate Governance – Balancing Short & Long Term Business Pressures
12th October, Monday, 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
For almost all public listed companies, COVID-19 has created unique and profound challenges. For the board, which is charged with overseeing the short-term and long-term health of the corporation and its business prospects, navigating the COVID-19 crisis requires careful consideration of a range of issues under these unprecedented circumstances. From health and safety of its employees and customers, to supply chain disruptions, lockdowns and managing cashflows to surviving the crisis, how do companies remain sustainable and competitive over the long term? Some opine that many of the policies like current remuneration packages only encourage short-termism. Does the removal of quarterly reporting lead to more long term actions?
How do boards ensure effective governance and controls in the new norm with limited "on the ground" and "management by walking around" management style?
Are boards ready, both from a performance and conformance angle, as businesses pivot in the New Norm? Especially when traditional businesses start getting into the new economy business models, like venturing into FinTech. What skills do boards require to successfully steer the company with today’s challenges?
03:00 PM
Welcome Address
03:10 PM
Opening Address by Guest-of-Honour
03:20 PM
03:30 PM
"Covid-19 & Corporate Governance – Balancing Short & Long Term Business Pressures"
04:00 PM
Panel Discussion on Covid-19 & Corporate Governance - Balancing Short & Long Term Business Pressures
05:00 PM
End of session
The link between corporate governance and business integrity - Are boards doing enough to fight corruption?
13th October, Tuesday, 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Corruption issues have put a big strain on the economic systems of ASEAN countries, which rob the organisations of their revenues and damage social trust and justice. Some headline corruption cases in the region linger on, with negative impact on the subsequent investments and business activities.
Beyond the spectacular corruption scandals at the national level, boards of directors face key challenges at the corporate level. On the one hand, corporations will have to strengthen their internal commitments for anti-corruption, including having the highest leadership take clear concrete actions. On the other hand, many of the difficulties surface in the external domains of corporate operations, particularly agents and suppliers. Yet, there is an increasing demand by stakeholders, including investors, for strong reporting and monitoring of anti-corruption practices.
For businesses, many questions remain to be answered. What is the current state of disclosure level on anti-corruption policy and strategy? How can integrity be a driver for businesses to differentiate? What do corporations need to get to know about their stakeholders to prioritise business integrity actions? What are the most critical issues for board of directors that pertain to business integrity?
The speaker, Prof Loh, will be presenting insights from the latest Business Integrity study covering corporations in ASEAN countries. He will highlight the current state of practice as well as the crucial implications for corporations and their leaderships.
Presentation
Speaker: Prof. Lawrence Loh, Director, Centre of Governance, Institution and Organisations, NUS Business School
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Mr. Loh Uantchern, Vice President, SIAS and CEO (Asia Pacific), Black Sun Panellists:Board Diversity – The Next Lap
14th October, Wednesday, 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, do boards have the relevant skill-sets to chart the company through this crisis? When and why diversity improves a Board’s performance? What are the factors required for the board to succeed?
At the same time, stakeholders need to consider the impact of the fundamental changes in working caused by the recent pandemic. The reality of many corporate employees working from home over the last few months has highlighted ways to balance work and family life. Many companies are suggesting that even after the pandemic, more flexible working arrangements are likely to continue.
With online working being encouraged and a move away from employees accommodated in big offices, there will be less need to be present in the office. As one of the barriers women often encounters to improve board gender diversity is the lack of flexible working arrangements to accommodate family commitments, can this environmental change to working practices lead to greater opportunities for women on boards?
Presentation
Speaker: Dr. Roger M. Barker, Director of Policy and Corporate Governance, Institute of Directors (UK) and Honorary Associate, Centre for Ethics and Law, University College LondonPanel Discussion
Moderator: Dr. Roger M. Barker, Director of Policy and Corporate Governance, Institute of Directors (UK) and Honorary Associate, Centre for Ethics and Law, University College London Panellists:Dealing with a Crisis – Communicating with Stakeholders Effectively
15th October, Thursday, 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
A recent Brunswick report highlighted that 80 percent of employees and 90 percent of financial readers expect to hear from a CEO on social media during a crisis. The current Covid-19 pandemic is requiring many companies to change the way they communicate with their stakeholders. How do companies prepare themselves to deal with this and other crises? How can they prevent value destruction? What other threats like cyber security, short seller or geopolitical risks can they prepare for? How do boards prepare to manage the risks? How to communicate with stakeholders and effectively deal with the media? What should companies do to get their transparency and disclosures right.
Presentation
Speakers: Ms. Pru Bennett, Partner, Brunswick GroupPanel Discussion
Moderator: Mr. Loh Uantchern, Vice President, SIAS and CEO (Asia Pacific), Black Sun Panellists:How to account for data and other digital assets to drive revenue and competitiveness
16th October, Friday, 09:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Data and other digital assets are increasingly important as companies look to reinvent themselves to meet changing demands and market conditions. These assets are critical to long term company growth and represent major potential value.
However, many companies have traditionally viewed these assets as a cost centre rather than as a revenue generator or value contributor. Today, data is like any other asset owned by the business - if you want to successfully convert it into value, it requires a business case to be developed that carefully calculates not just the potential return, but also the costs and risks involved.
With Covid, companies are looking to evolve and develop new revenue streams, move towards for online and virtual connection, data and other digital assets become increasing important.
Presentation
Speaker: Mr. Tyler Capson, Managing Director - Asia, EverEdgePanel Discussion
Moderator: Mr. Loh Uantchern, Vice President, SIAS and CEO (Asia Pacific), Black Sun Panellists:
