Criteria
Awards of Excellence in Corporate Governance
Companies considered for the Awards of Excellence in Corporate Governance should demonstrate commitment and achievement in the following areas of corporate governance:
1. A corporate culture and leadership with appropriate corporate structure and policies conducive to good corporate governance.
2. Evidence of protecting and advancing rights and interests of all shareholders, especially minority shareholders.
3. Evidence of maintaining good relationships with different stakeholders via different channels and responding to their needs and concerns, showing respects for ethical, economic, social, environmental and human values in the business process.
4. Effective composition and structure of the board of directors that allows the board to exercise its duties/responsibilities independently and effectively.
5. Demonstration of the high quality of board directors and the whole board and its committees, and examples of their process and performance that advance the value of company and interests of stakeholders.
6. Integrity in financial reporting that ensures quality and timely disclosures of financial and other non-financial information.
7. Effective internal controls and risk management processes as well as internal and external audit process that minimize hazards, fraud, corruption and other malpractices.
8. Clear delineation of the role of executive management and their accountability to the board, and the policy on assessment & compensations for senior executives.
Awards of Excellence in ESG
Companies considered for the Awards of Excellence in ESG should demonstrate commitment and achievement in the following areas of ESG:
1. A corporate culture and leadership with appropriate management, monitoring and public reporting systems and policies conducive to sustainability.
2. Evidence of committing to sustainable use and protection of natural resources along the production chain, demonstrating commitments on reducing the company’s direct and indirect environmental impacts, actively promotes the value of environment along every channel of the supply chain.
3. Evidence of a strong commitment to community investment and philanthropic support.
4. Effective policies and procedures to address risks and responsibilities across the company’s workforce, supply chain, and business partnerships as well as in communities impacted by its operations.
5. Active strategies to ensure equitable access to the company’s goods and services, effective policies and procedures in place to protect consumers’ rights.
6. Evidence of maintaining an ongoing dialogue with different stakeholders and committing to open and transparent reporting systems for social impact.
7. Cultivate a collaborative and constructive work environment through forward looking strategies and effective employee management, development and trainings police’s and process.
8. Demonstration of respects for values of staff work/life balance, workforce diversity and non-discrimination; implementing fair, effective, and competitive remuneration strategies and policies.
In their assessment, the ERP and Judging Panel will consider the candidate companies’ efforts and achievements in complying with or exceeding the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong’s various new rules and requirements under respective criterion.
For both the Awards of Excellence in Corporate Governance and Awards of Excellence in ESG, special attention will be paid to the following three areas :
1. Innovations and significant improvements in corporate governance or ESG made over the last three years.
2. Efforts made to internalize and pursue the highest principles of corporate governance or ESG over-and-beyond compliance with requirements.
3. Ability to show positive business impact of the corporate governance or ESG spirit and practices.
Selection Process
Award policies and selection process/criteria will be overseen by a joint CHKLC-CCGFP Award Organizing Committee (AOC). The selection process will involve an Expert Review Group (ERG) and an Award Judging Panel (AJP). Selection process goes through two rounds.
Preliminary Round
The ERG comprises independent expert assessors from various sectors. Each entry is reviewed independently by two assessors using an assessment model based on the self-completed questionnaire and studying the entrant’s performance of corporate governance and ESG practices in accordance with the aspects of respective criteria with reference to published information.
In addition, each candidate company is requested to provide supplementary information in no more than 800 words (in either English or Chinese) to illustrate the company’s corporate governance or ESG beliefs, new endeavours, or major achievements. A case study can be used as illustration. Companies who have participated in the Awards Programmes in previous years and taken part in the interview with the Judging Panel may elect to highlight any improvements made since then based on feedbacks or comments from the judges, if appropriate.
Separation write-ups are required for the Award of Excellence in Corporate Governance and the Award of Excellence in ESG.
As our ERG would review published annual and / or ESG reports as part of its evaluation, additional and updated information or a highlight description is preferred. Those satisfying the basic criteria will be short-listed. The ERG then reviews and ranks all short-listed entries, comparing their strengths, weaknesses and achievements. Top entries are recommended for further consideration by the AJP.
Final Round
The short-listed finalist companies will be invited to make a 20-minute verbal presentation followed by questions from the AJP for 15 minutes during the AJP meeting. Finalists are expected to showcase and highlight their achievements in corporate governance or ESG in accordance with the respective criteria during the AJP meeting.
Decisions of AJP
The Award Judging Panel may usually recommend five awards in each sub-group of both “Excellence in Corporate Governance” and “Excellence in ESG” Award Categories (The number of awards may be adjusted at the sole discretion of the Awards Juding Panel). The Awards Judging Panel reserves the right to withhold awards if the required standards are not met.
Honourable Mentions may also be awarded to companies not attaining the required standard of an Award as an encouragement.
*The decision of the AJP is final and no appeal or correspondence will be entertained.