ICD honors companies practicing good governance with its Golden Arrow Awards

AS the Institute of Corporate Directors Philippines (ICD PH) commemorates its 25th anniversary and its mission to spread the practice of good governance, the organization would recognize Philippine publicly-listed companies (PLC) and insurance companies at its Golden Arrow Recognition.The awarding would be held after its good governance summit at Manila Marriott Hotel's Manila Ballroom on September 19.These companies would be judged according to the assessment results of their Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) and Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS).ACGS and CGS were composed of 184 questions based on publicly available knowledge of the companies' disclosures and website. There were five levels of performance determined by each score: one arrow recognition for 80 to 89 points, the lowest a company could be awarded with; two-arrow recognition for 90 to 99 points; three-arrow recognition for 100 to 109 points; four-arrow recognition for 110 to 119 points; and five-arrow recognition for 120 to 130 points, the highest a company can be awarded with.These measurement tools would help determine how the company practiced equitable treatment toward its stakeholders, ensures accountability and transparency through timely release of records and relates to the diverse portfolio of its stakeholders. Additionally, it would also indicate how the board monitors the management of the company and guides it strategically.Overall, the Golden Arrow recognition aimed to raise the standards or corporate governance toward local companies and make these companies attractive to foreign investors, raising the stakes for the Philippine economy as well.Several companies had already shown its dedication in making good corporate governance practices a norm in its procedure. Last year's ACGS performance measurement, 272 Philippine PLCs were examined. Many of these companies scored above 70 while 60 PLCs scored between 70 and 79.99.These companies scored an average of 76.64 percent, higher than the Asean average of 75.9 percent. This indicates a strong improvement in the overall corporate governance performance of the PLCs.The top 100 PLCs by Market Capitalization garnered an average of 90.68 points compared to its previous year of 87.55 points. It would be expected for this year's Golden Arrow recognition that PLCs would score higher than these numbers to signify improvement.For the CGS Performance of the Philippine Insurance Industry, 111 companies were assessed. These companies had also shown promising improvement as they scored 55.13 points, 3.57 points higher than the previous year.However, improvement with some individual companies was needed. ICD noted that some companies did not disclose its Notice and Minutes of Annual Stockholders or General Meeting information. There are also only a few companies who had published their policies and practices related to both external and internal stakeholders and sustainability sections.While half of the examined companies disclosed their annual reports, many of these were lacking crucial information. Information on renumeration had been scarce, and majority of its boards have yet to adopt a minimum quorum of two-thirds for board meetings. It had been expected that majority of the companies have made improvements on these specific findings.Some of the notable companies that have won Golden Arrow awards previously were Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Chinabank, Globe, Monde, and Manulife Philippines and Manulife China Bank Life Assurance Corp. (MCBL).As one of the major insurers of the country, Sun Life Grepa had been awarded with one-arrow recognition in 2023, reflecting its adherence to the best practices of in corporate governance. It was also the fifth consecutive year that the insurance company was recognized for good corporate governance."We are immensely proud to receive this award from ICD. This back-to-back recognition underscores our relentless pursuit of excellence in all aspects of our business operations, ultimately benefiting our customers and the wider community we serve," Sun Life Grepa President Richard Lim said.PLDT, another constant awardee of the Golden Arrow, bagged a three-arrow award as it continues its dedication toward maintaining the highest ethical standards in its company.PLDT Chief Legal Counsel and Corporate Secretary Lawyer Marilyn Victorio-Aquino said: "From the company's board, the top management and hardworking employees, we thank the ICD and the Asean business community for this recognition. Our dedication to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance remains unchanged as we foster a culture of transparency, accountability and ethical leadership throughout the PLDT Group."Chinabank had also been consistent in scoring high at the ACGS and CGS assessment. It continued its streak last year after bagging the five-arrow award."This recognition is a testament to Chinabank's beyond compliance approach to corporate governance and our unwavering commitment to do what is right and to do right by our stakeholders," said Chinabank Chief Finance Officer Patrick Cheng.Another five-arrow awardee was digital solutions platform Globe. The award had been reflective of its highest level of performance as set by the ICD. It was its second consecutive year to win the five-arrow award."We are honored and grateful to receive the highly coveted five-Golden Arrow Award as a testament to our efforts in upholding strong corporate governance practices and standards across Globe alongside the dynamic demands of the business. Our strategic position in the industry as a leading telco drives us to continue creating and sustaining value for all our stakeholders," Globe Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Cu said.On its first submission for the ACGS review, Monde had clinched a three-arrow award last year."Monde's award is the result of joint efforts involving dedicated collaborations across the organization to build on company policies centered on integrity and ethical conduct with the aim of ensuring that Monde is not just compliant with existing laws and regulations, but more significantly, it is well-governed," said Helen Tiu, Monde's chief legal counsel and corporate secretary.Manulife Philippines asserted that good governance is part of its business. It placed emphasis on nurturing trust, doing the right thing and generating value for its customers as mentioned by its President and CEO Rahul Hora."Aside from being well-positioned to offer the most relevant products and services to our customers, we at MCBL ensure all our shareholders that corporate consciousness, fairness, transparency and accountability are integral in the way we conduct business so we can continue to financially secure more Filipinos and help make their every day better," added Neil Bowyer, MCBL president.