The silent whistle

[SINGAPORE] On Feb 27, the Centre for Investor Protection released its report on the findings of the first in-depth study of whistle-blowing (WB) policies in Singapore, titled Will You Listen?, authored by us. The study assessed disclosures in the latest annual and sustainability reports for the 2023 and 2024 financial years and the corporate websites of 536 issuers with a primary listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), against SGX requirements and other good practices.

Overall, there is significant room for improvement in policies based on what issuers disclosed. This inference is not based solely on the study, but also on our own experiences and interactions with directors, executives and employees.

We found that 29.3 per cent did not reveal the number of complaints, and nearly two-thirds disclosed they had zero complaints. Issuers with no complaints should not necessarily assume that there is no misconduct in the company. It may simply be because their WB policies are ineffective.