Objectives of the Award

This award is to recognise exemplary companies that have upheld best practices in corporate governance and shown leadership, innovation and resilience during the pandemic. Despite the challenging circumstances, these companies have delivered sustainable financial performance and established frameworks and policies to create long-term value for the organisation, over the same period.

In doing so, the SCA Organising Committee seeks to recognise and reinforce the notion that good corporate governance underpins strong performance, and provides a strong foundation for businesses to assess and adapt their strategies to the changing landscape. Excellence in corporate leadership – and good dynamics between board and management – helps build resilience to the challenging environment, and serves as a role model for other companies to emulate.

Categories of the Award

Awards will be presented to the companies in the following categories:

• Companies with market capitalisation of S$1 billion and above;
• Companies with market capitalisation of S$300 million to less than S$1 billion; and
• Companies with market capitalisation of less than S$300 million.

Selection and Judging Process

The selection for this Award goes through a rigorous three-stage process.

In Stage 1, all listed companies are screened based on publicly available information of corporate governance practices, benchmark corporate governance indices and analysis of financial performance.

A shortlist of approximately 60 companies will be developed.

In Stage 2, additional inputs on shortlisted companies are obtained through research and discreet inquiries. The working committee will visit companies which are further shortlisted to interview and obtain more information on their board and management practices and processes.

In Stage 3, a panel of judges will meet and conduct a final interview with selected companies to identify the winners.

Award Criteria

• CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
  • The Singapore Governance and Transparency Index (SGTI), a leading index for assessingcorporate governance practices of Singapore listed companies
  • Based on five domains within the framework: Board Responsibilities; Rights of Shareholders;Engagement of Stakeholders; Accountability and Audit; Disclosure and Transparency.
• FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
  • Efficiency and effectiveness of financial crisis response and financial planning
  • Shareholders' Interest: shareholder value creation and return to shareholders, shareholdercommunications and meetings
• STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
  • Impacts of strategic and operational pivots since the onset of the pandemic
  • How strategic direction, changes in business models, risk management practices and otherprocesses and systems were put in place quickly and executed efficiently to facilitate thetransition of operations during the crisis
• PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
  • People management and culture will be key metrics in this category
  • Consider staff engagement, health & safety, fair employment, performance measurement, incentives and other staff well-being practices
• SUSTAINABILITY & DIGITAL
  • Promote greater environmental responsibility and sustainability initiatives
  • Leverage digital technology to pivot business and operating models

Organisations

The SCA is jointly organised by:

• Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
• Singapore Institute of Directors
• The Business Times

The SCA is supported by:

• Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
• Singapore Exchange

The partner organisations involved in the award organisation and detailed work are:

• CGS, NUS Business School
• Deloitte
• EY
• Heidrick & Struggles
• KPMG
• PwC

The supporting partner is Citigate Dewe Rogerson.