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Phl firms lag in good corporate governance(Philippine Star News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MANILA, Philippines - Philippine listed companies are still behind their Southeast Asian counterparts when it comes to good corporate governance, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Teresita Herbosa said. During yesterday's corporate governance forum, Herbosa said there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of uplifting the corporate governance scores of Philippine publicly listed companies. "Between going beyond what is required by law and just complying by the minimum, they should go beyond," the SEC chief said. Herbosa said only about a fifth or 50 of the more than 250 listed companies are currently going beyond "what is required." "There are certain requirements that are not in our laws. So many companies don't know that in order to rank high in that score card, you have already complied with high standards. We don't have to wait for new legislation or new amendments of the laws," she said. The SEC chief said good corporate governance is essential in developing capital markets by increasing share value while protecting investors. Corporate governance principles also provide guidance on how corporations should operate. usiness ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 "For example, do you know that in our stockholders' meetings companies usually address questions and issues raised by the audience. The problem is sometimes they do not include all of the discussions in the minutes when in fact that's a factor in the score card. That's easy to comply," Herbosa said "We also want more disclosure and transparency. Some disclosures always fall short of beneficial ownership," she added. The corporate governance forum is a joint undertaking of the SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange to update listed companies on regulatory and legislative developments on corporate governance and discuss ways to improve the performance of Philippine listed companies in the Asean corporate governance scorecard. "I think our companies should just know what are these additional requirements and comply. What is hard is convincing some who thinks that minimum requirement that we have in the law is enough," Herbosa said. "We really have to go higher. Otherwise, our neighbors in other countries, they will just pass us," she added. Listed companies in the Philippines were able to record higher ratings in terms of corporate governance and investor protection efforts last year. In the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard's country reports and assessments 2013-2014, the median score of 252 firms listed in the PSE improved to 58 last year from 48.91 in 2012. |