Date: September 30, 2021
- New award criteria – SMART – is jointly developed by the NUS Centre for Governance and Sustainability
- The Sustainability Award, which used to be a standalone award, has been incorporated into the Singapore Corporate Governance Award
- This is part of SIAS’ efforts to promote corporate governance and transparency, and safeguard shareholder interests, as sustainability disclosures are now an integral part of good corporate governance
Singapore, September 30, 2021 – Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (“SIAS”), a strong advocate for corporate transparency and progressive industry practices aimed at protecting shareholder interests, has incorporated sustainability as a key criteria for the first time in the Singapore Corporate Governance Award this year. The Sustainability Award, which used to be a standalone award to recognise companies with substantial sustainability reporting and practices, will be incorporated into the Singapore Corporate Governance Award starting this year.
Mr. David Gerald, Founder, President and CEO of SIAS, said, “This year marks the first year that SIAS is incorporating sustainability as a key criteria in the Singapore Corporate Governance Award, which is a timely move as a sound sustainability framework is no longer a “good-to-have”, or a side show, but an inherent part of a successful corporate.
“Studies have shown that good environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) performance has a positive correlation to the company’s financial position. Companies that incorporate sustainable practices and business models are not only able to improve operation efficiency and lower costs, they are also in a better position to mitigate risks, retain talents as well as capture opportunities and growth. These improve business resilience and creates long term value for all stakeholders.
“In addition, increasingly more investors are showing interest and placing emphasis on ESG issues. SGX’s mandatory requirement on sustainability reporting has also increased stakeholders’ awareness on sustainability disclosures, which means that open and honest communications on corporate’s sustainable practices, especially in the areas of risk disclosures, are now an integral part of good corporate governance.”
Professor Lawrence Loh, Director of Centre for Governance and Sustainability, NUS Business School, said: “The new Singapore Corporate Governance Award uses a first-of-its kind assessment framework integrating both corporate governance and sustainability. In addition, it is unique in factoring also the stock market performance of the companies that are award winners. The complete and holistic approach differentiates the Award from others in the region and locally.”
NEW SUSTAINABILITY SCORING FRAMEWORK
A new sustainability scoring framework – SMART – has also been introduced to the award scorecard. The framework will assess the company’s sustainability practices as disclosed in their Sustainability Reports. Areas of assessments include “Scope and Statement”, “Material ESG Factors”, “Actions & Achievements”, “Reporting Framework” and “Targets”. The SMART framework is jointly developed by the Centre for Governance and Sustainability, NUS Business School, and SIAS. It will take up 40% of the total scoring in the first round of evaluation.
The other 60% of the scoring will be based on the existing STARS framework for corporate governance assessment, where “Shareholders’ Rights and Equitable Treatment”, “Transparency and Disclosure”, “Accountability and Audit”, “Responsibilities of the Board” and “Stakeholders’ Roles” will be assessed.
The top 20 companies with the highest STARS-SMART scores will then be shortlisted for another round of assessment where Refinitiv Stock Report Plus analysis with the Refinitve score (“Refinitiv Score”) will be incorporated to the final scorecard. The Singapore Corporate Governance Award selection committee comprising of industry partners and media will evaluate the quantitative scores and assess any qualitative information to decide on the winner of their respective categories that is segmented by market capitalisation as follows:
- Listed companies with market capitalisation of S$1 billion and above (“Large- Caps”);
- Listed companies with market capitalisation of S$300 million to less than S$1 billion (“Mid-Caps”);
- Listed companies with market capitalisation of less than S$300 million (“Small-Caps”); and
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) and Business Trusts.
For REITS and Business Trusts, besides their STARS-SMART score, they will also be evaluated based on their RIDGE score where areas including “Responsibilities and Structure”, “Interested Person Transactions (IPTs)”, “Distribution and Valuation”, “Gearing and Credit” and “Emolument and Performance” will be assessed. The top 20 trusts with the highest STARS-SMART score and RIDGE score will then be shortlisted for the final round of assessment where their Refinitiv score will be incorporated.
For more information on Singapore Corporate Governance Award 2021’s scoring framework, please refer to Appendix A.
The Singapore Corporate Governance Award 2021 is part of the Investors’ Choice Awards (“ICA”) 2021 that recognises excellence in companies and individuals adopting good corporate governance practices. The awards ceremony will be held as a hybrid event on 12 October 2021. Guest of Honour of the event will be Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, Former President of Singapore & Chief Patron of SIAS.
ICA 2021 is held in conjunction with SIAS Corporate Governance (CG) Week 2021.
SIAS is a member of the OECD Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance. CG Week 2021 has the strong support of The Association of Banks in Singapore (“ABS”), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”), and Singapore Accountancy Commission (“SAC”) as the Supporting Organisations; Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) as the Supporting Exchange and Deloitte as Knowledge Partner. This year’s participating institutions include Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Commission and Financial Reporting Council (FRC), UK.
CG Week 2021 is also supported and endorsed by many professional and trade bodies, as well as leading institutions and corporations, including:
- CFA Society Singapore;
- CPA Australia;
- Financial Markets Association of Singapore (FMAS);
- The Institute of Internal Auditors Singapore (IIA);
- The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA);
- Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS);
- Investor Relations Professionals Association (Singapore) (IRPAS);
- The Securities Association of Singapore (SAS).
The official IR consultancy is Citigate Dewe Rogerson.
For registration to attend Corporate Governance Week programmes, simply log on to https://sias.org.sg/cgweek2021/singapore-register.php to sign up.
