4 Dec 2014

This year we undertook research in the area of Governance in Company Groups (in collaboration with Professor Mak Yuen Teen and published by CPA Australia in July 2014) and The Corporate Governance of Major Asia Pacific Insurance Companies (in collaboration with Professor Mak Yuen Teen and the Iclif Governance Centre - due for publication in early 2015).

The aim of our research is to support thought leadership in areas broadly related to the behavioural aspects of corporate governance. We would be most interested to hear from organisations and individuals who are interested in research collaborations in 2015.

We support the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity which has been widely adopted internationally.

2 July 2014

1 July 2014

Articles can be found in the following:

• The Business Times on 1 July 2014 - Striving for Full Disclosure (http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/focus/striving-full-disclosure-20140701)

• The Business Times on 2 July 2014 - More needs to be done to improve governance of group entities: study (http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/breaking-news/singapore/more-needs-be-done-improve-governance-group-entities-study-20140702)

• The Straits TImes on 2 July 2014 - More guidance needed on governance for group companies: study (http://www.straitstimes.com/news/business/companies/story/more-guidance-needed-governance-group-companies-study-20140702)

• The Business Times on 3 July 2014 - More governance effort needed for group's units.  Parent firms pays price for failures at these units: study (http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/top-stories/more-governance-effort-needed-groups-units-20140703)

19 July 2013

Executive Summary

Following the global financial crisis, bank regulators in many countries have introduced significant reforms with the aim of improving the corporate governance of banks. These reforms are significantly influenced by promulgations from global regulatory bodies such as the Basel Committee and the Financial Stability Board.

In this first ever study of the current corporate governance practices of large Asian banks, we examine a number of areas, including corporate and ownership structures, board structure and practices, executive and director remuneration, risk management, audits and implementation of whistleblowing policies.

The study covered 50 of the largest publicly-listed banks and bank holding companies by total assets which had up-to-date disclosures on key corporate governance practices. These 50 largest banks are from 10 Asian countries: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Data were obtained primarily from the latest annual reports available in December 2012, supplemented by other sources such as company websites and regulatory filings which are publicly accessible.

Findings

(This is just an extract from the 33 key findings which are in the main Report)

The key findings from our study are as follow:

• Of the 50 banks, 20 are subsidiaries of financial holding companies.

• Institutional investors are substantial shareholders in 35 banks, governments in 32 banks, and families in 4 banks. However, governments hold the largest stakes on average, with government substantial shareholders owning almost 40 percent in the 32 banks in which they are substantial shareholders, compared to mean ownership of about 24 percent for institutional substantial shareholders in the 35 banks in which they are substantial shareholders.

• Government and institutional substantial shareholders are the largest shareholders in all except 4 banks, with each being the largest shareholders in 23 banks.

• Bank boards are often large, with a mean and median board size of 13 board members. Almost a quarter have more than 16 or more board members and only 1 in 5 banks have 10 or fewer members.

• 40 percent of the bank boards have a majority of independent directors, but about 1 in 4 have less than one-third of independent directors. Three Japanese banks do not have independent directors and 10 percent of banks have more than two-thirds of independent directors.

...