Leaders in corporate governance honoured at awards

THE who's who in corporate governance in Singapore were honoured at the 12th Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) on Tuesday night.

Held at Resorts World Convention Centre, the annual event is a celebration of listed companies and individuals who have shown excellence in raising the standards of local corporate disclosure and corporate governance.

The big winners of the night were the CapitaLand group of companies, DBS Group and Singtel.

The most prestigious gold prize for Best Managed Board of a large-cap company went to DBS, while the silver award was handed out to CapitaLand and bronze went to SATS.

In the mid-cap category, Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation (Keppel T&T) bagged the gold, Q&M Dental Group clinched the silver while Riverstone Holdings won the bronze.

For small-caps, Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) bagged the gold award while Dynamic Colours and Soilbuild Construction Group brought home the silver and bronze prizes respectively.

Singtel's chief executive officer Chua Sock Koong won Best CEO in the large-cap category, making her the first woman to do so. In 2006, Ms Chua was named Best CFO.

For leading the way in board diversity, the telco was given the Special Recognition Award - the second year that this award was handed out.

Mark Wakeford of Indofood Agri Resources and Khoo Boo Hor of Sunningdale Tech took top honours as Best CEO in the mid- and small-cap categories respectively.

In the Best CFO category, OCBC Bank's Darren Tan bagged the large-cap prize, Mewah International Inc's Rajesh Chopra took the mid-cap and Centurion Corporation's Foo Ai Huey won the small-cap prize.

Gold winners of the Best Investors Relations award were City Developments, Del Monte Pacific and Micro-Mechanics (Holdings). Under the Reits (real estate investment trusts) and business trusts category, CapitaLand Commercial Trust snagged the gold award.

In the Best Annual Report category, DBS, Tuan Sing Holdings and Megachem Limited won the gold for large-, mid- and small-cap respectively. Frasers Commercial Trust was awarded the gold for Reits and business trusts.

In all, 30 companies and six individuals were lauded for leading the way in effective governance and shareholder communication, with the CapitaLand group topping the list of winners this year by sweeping four awards. DBS, the Frasers group, Keppel group and Sembcorp Industries each secured two awards.

Other multiple award winners included Banyan Tree Holdings, Centurion, Del Monte, Micro-Mechanics and Tuan Sing.

The awards were co-organised by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, Singapore Institute of Directors and The Business Times, and supported by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Singapore Exchange. It was sponsored by Bank Julius Baer with award partners Deloitte, EY, Heidrick & Struggles, KPMG and PwC, as well as supporting partner Citigate Dewe Rogerson, i.MAGE.

Torsten Linke, head of private banking South-east Asia and branch manager Singapore at Bank Julius Baer, said that a culture of corporate transparency and good governance is the lynchpin in positioning Singapore as the business centre of choice, which in turn promotes stronger regional trade and business connectivity. He urged all companies to learn from the winners in order to raise the bar.

The guest of honour was Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance.