Keppel Corporation tops 2014 annual governance ranking

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SINGAPORE: Keppel Corporation has become Singapore’s most well-governed and transparent company after climbing two places to clinch the top spot in the 2014 Governance and Transparency Index (GTI).

In a close finish, the conglomerate beat its competitors with an overall score of 116 points, coming ahead of second-placed SingTel (115 points) and SembCorp Industries, which took third position with 113 points.

The Singapore Exchange (112 points) and SATS Ltd (108 points) followed in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

A total of 644 SGX-listed companies which released their 2013 annual reports before May 31, 2014 were examined for the GTI 2014.

Jointly published by CPA Australia and NUS Business School’s Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations (CGIO), the annual index aims to reflect the key trends in Singapore’s corporate governance landscape.

The Business Times is the strategic media partner for the project, which is also supported by the Investment Management Association of Singapore, Securities Investors Association (Singapore) and Singapore Accountancy Commission.

Keppel Corporation fared well in several corporate governance measures used for the GTI.

Singapore Divisional President at CPA Australia Associate Professor Themin Suwardy said: “The annual trends and detailed GTI rankings over the last six years show that Singapore-listed companies are making positive strides in reinforcing the values of good corporate governance, risk management and transparency, which are at the core of financial infrastructure and foundation.

“While there is room for improvement among listed companies in the broader market, it is clear that well-governed entities create sustainable value for organisations and are trusted by investors big and
small.”

The GTI 2014 study, released at the CPA Forum organised by CPA Australia, found that the majority of SGX-listed companies have embraced the new Code of Corporate Governance, which came into effect in November 2012.

The mean score of the index increased from 38.0 in 2013 to 42.1 this year, marking the highest year-on-year improvement since the index’s inception in 2008.

The median score also hit a record of 40, up from 35 last year, indicating the progress in companies’ governance practices.

Among the top 10 companies in the GTI 2014, SATS and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) made significant improvements.

SATS climbed from ninth place in 2013 to fifth position this year, after it put in place a fully independent remuneration committee and disclosed the exact remuneration of their executive and non-executive directors.

Meanwhile, OCBC jumped from 21st place to ninth within a year, following notable enhancements in its corporate governance practices.

Other companies that fared well include Nobel Design Holdings and Auric Pacific Group, with both firms seeing increases of more than 30 points in their overall scores. — Bernama