Many 'firsts' at the Award's 12th year

IF there is one place to be in July, it would have to be the Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) where the best of the best in managing listed companies rubbed shoulders with one another, soaked in the entertainment by fellow corporates and toasted to their wins.

Dubbed the 'Oscars' of the local corporate scene, the annual celebration and merry-making that is into its 12th year was held at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre on July 18, where listed entities here were recognised for excellence in corporate disclosures and governance. Guest of honour was Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance.

And several "firsts" took place at the glitzy affair. For the first time, The Business Times' editor Wong Wei Kong graced the event and did a dance number in the opening act. DBS clinched the most coveted gold prize for Best Managed Board of a listed company with at least S$1 billion in market cap. The lender also picked up the gold award for Best Annual Report in the same breath, making it the first company to win top awards in all categories since the inception of the SCA in 2005.

The large-cap silver award for Best Managed Board went to CapitaLand and SATS clinched the bronze.

Another first came from Singtel's group chief executive officer (CEO) Chua Sock Koong, who won Best CEO in the large-cap category - the first woman to earn this. She is also the first to have under her belt both the Best CEO and Best Chief Financial Officer (CFO) awards, having picked up the Best CFO title in 2006.

The telco itself was honoured with the Special Recognition Award for its board diversity policy. It is the second time the award has been given out.

Top honours for Best CEO in the mid- and small-cap categories went to Mark Wakeford of Indofood Agri Resources and Khoo Boo Hor of Sunningdale Tech, respectively. For the Best CFO category, OCBC Bank's Darren Tan picked up the large-cap prize, Mewah International Inc's Rajesh Chopra took the mid-cap one and Centurion Corporation's Foo Ai Huey won the small-cap award.

The awards were co-organised by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, Singapore Institute of Directors and BT, supported by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Singapore Exchange. The event 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.