Date: May 30, 2018
In view of the current position Midas finds itself in, some have questioned SIAS as to why it was awarded the Most Transparent Company Award from the years 2012 to 2016.
SIAS awards are presented, in collaboration with industry partners, to companies based on their publicly disclosed information in their annual reports. The aim of the Most Transparent Company Award is to encourage listed companies to be more transparent and to provide timely information to investors to enable them to make informed investment decisions. Until and unless such information is proven to be wrong, SIAS and its industry partners will not be in a position to know whether or not the information is accurate and reliable. Reliance is placed on the audited financial statements and other relevant information in the annual reports for the year the award is being presented. There was no clue of any wrongdoings by Midas at the time the awards were presented. After all, Midas was a favourite with local equity analysts with broking firms.
On the aforesaid basis, SIAS and its industry partners, in scoring and selecting the Most Transparent Company Award on the information then presented, awarded Midas the winner title for their category in the years 2012 to 2016. It has disturbingly now come to light from Mazars LLP, auditors for the Midas, who have now publicly disclosed that their auditors’ reports on Midas for 2012 to 2016 can no longer be relied upon, thus undermining the basis for the awards to Midas. SIAS is, therefore, withdrawing the Most Transparent Company Award from Midas for the aforesaid years.
What must be understood clearly by everyone is that there is no guarantee that a company or a person exhibiting good conduct today may continue to do so in the future. It is also not humanly possible for SIAS or anyone to predict the future perfectly.
This is an unprecedented move as SIAS and the Selection Committee have always taken precautions to screen and check companies before they are awarded. Nevertheless, SIAS takes a serious view of misrepresentations, fraud and breaches in the laws and companies that have not adhered to the spirit of good corporate governance and transparency will have to be removed from winners’ list.
David Gerald
Founder, President & CEO
Securities Investors Association (Singapore)
