When corporate governance reaches a dead end

IT HAS often been said that corporate governance is a journey, but based on the corporate governance issues raised in the "Q&A on Annual Reports" initiative of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) and recent corporate governance sagas here, we may have reached a cul-de-sac.

Fifteen years after the first Code of Corporate Governance for listed companies was introduced here, and two revisions later with another one on the way, many companies continue to adopt a box-ticking approach to applying the Code, stretch the interpretation of the guidelines or liberally use the flexibility given by the "comply or explain" approach to depart from even the most basic guidelines.

SIAS's Q&A on Annual Reports covers the areas of strategy, financials and corporate governance practices based mainly on the most recent annual reports. As at Dec 31, 2016, 80 out of the first-year target of 200 issuers have been covered, with 18 issuers providing written replies on SGXNET and/or directly to SIAS. I have found the questions to be well researched and insightful.