Better processes needed in hiring of independent directors

Stricter regulations, mounting shareholder expectations casting a spotlight as corporate action on the rise, but market watchers say pace of change still slow

Uma Devi

Published Tue, Oct 5, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Board diversity

Singapore

THE introduction of stricter regulations and mounting shareholder expectations have cast a spotlight on independent directors in Singapore.

Professional recruiters polled by The Business Times acknowledged that the demand for their services in this area is rising amid changes in the hiring process of independent directors, but said the pace of change is still slow.

Grace Tay, principal at executive search group Pedersen & Partners, said independent directors are generally appointed through "informal networks" or from a pool of the controlling shareholder's preferred appointees. These appointees are then approved by the company's board of directors.

Her observation was echoed by most of the other recruiters BT spoke to, and was also the conclusion of a r…