Thai companies rise on CG ranking
Twenty-three Thai firms make top-50 ranking at Asean corporate awards event in the Philippines
Two Thai-listed companies, PTT Global Chemical and Samart Corporation, earned the Top 5 Asean PLCs Awards at this year’s Asean Corporate Governance Award (CG) event in Manila, according to the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF).
Twenty-three Thai-listed companies were among the top 50 Asean companies that achieved the highest scorecard ranking at the event. They were followed by 11 companies from the Philippines, eight from Singapore, six from Malaysia and two from Indonesia.
The event was hosted by the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), leaders of the region’s top publicly-listed companies (PLCs), capital markets regulators and governance experts. The awards recognised the efforts of companies that continuously implement good corporate governance in their operations and services.
The 2015 results show that Thai-listed companies have continuously ranked among the top 50 Asean companies for a fourth consecutive year. This reflects the regional leadership role that Thai-listed firms have played in applying international corporate governance standards in their operations.
Asean CG Scorecard is a programme initiated by the Asean Capital Markets Forum and sponsored by the Securities and Exchange Commissions of each Asean country. The programme’s purpose is to evaluate corporate governance standards of listed companies within six of the 10 Asean countries, which are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Since its inception in 2012, this is the first time the names of the top 50 listed companies were publicly announced.
“Since the programme’s inception, Thai-isted companies have been outstanding in consistently applying corporate governance principles in line with the Asean standard,” said Bandid Nijathaworn, president and CEO of the Thai Institute of Directors.
“This is particularly in the areas of the Rights of Shareholders and the Equitable Treatment of Shareholders. Despite the increasingly stringent evaluation criteria, Thai-listed companies have consistently improved their standards and compliance in accordance with the Asean standard.”
As such, said the corporate governance expert, the awards earned by Thai-listed companies could be considered a proud achievement for all Thai-listed companies and the Thai capital market.
“The Thai Institute of Directors wishes to congratulate all the companies that won awards. The institute will continue to support Thai-listed companies to further advance corporate governance practices to enhance the development of the Thai capital markets and corporate governance practice of the Thai private sector,” he said.
“We are very pleased with the success. The recent Asean CG Scorecard results clearly underline the leadership of Thai-listed companies on their corporate governance standards, which will have a direct effect on investor confidence, both domestically and internationally on the Thai capital market,” said Rapee Sucharitakul, secretary-general of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission.
“This major achievement for the Thai capital market as a whole was made possible by the ongoing collaboration from all parties and the determination and commitment of the Thai-listed companies to enhance their own corporate governance practices in line with international standards.
“The SEC will continue to promote this project as it is such a vital mechanism for improving corporate governance of listed companies across the region. This in turn would help to increase brand recognition for the Asean asset class.”
