ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard: Singapore’s Performance and Areas for Improvement

The Singapore Exchange Regulation (“SGX RegCo“) has shared insights on the results of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN“) Corporate Governance Scorecard (“ACGS“), which were presented at the ACGS Forum in Singapore on 3 November 2025.

Developed in collaboration between the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) and the Asian Development Bank, the ACGS is an initiative to evaluate, elevate and foster corporate governance (“CG“) among publicly listed companies in six participating ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ACGS uses assessment criteria that reflect global principles and internationally recognised good practices, with the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance 2023 and ICGN Global Governance Principles 2021 as the main guiding references. Currently conducted on a biennial basis, the ACGS covers the following four areas:  

1. rights and equitable treatment of shareholders;
2. sustainability and resilience;
3. disclosure and transparency; and
4. responsibilities of the board of directors (“Board“).

Singapore’s Performance in the Scorecard

Among the scorecard items, Singapore entities demonstrate strength in protecting shareholder rights and promoting sustainability. However, the results identify gaps in the areas of disclosure and transparency, and Board responsibilities. These findings align with the outcomes reported by the Singapore Governance and Transparency Index.

Recommendations for Improvement

Based on the assessment, several recommendations have been proposed to improve the performance of Singapore entities. These include, among others, disclosure of the following:

1. whether all Board members and the chief executive officer (“CEO“) attended the most recent annual general meeting;
2. whether the entity has a reward/compensation policy that accounts for the entity’s performance beyond short-term financial measures;
3. whether the entity has a website disclosing up-to-date information on the entity’s constitution;
4. whether the entity’s annual report discloses its dividend policy;
5. the direct and indirect (deemed) shareholdings of senior management;
6. whether the Board conducts an annual performance assessment of the CEO/Managing Director/President;
7. whether the entity has set a limit of five board seats that an individual independent/non-executive director may hold simultaneously;
8. whether the Board is provided with board papers at least five business days in advance of board meetings;
9. the entity’s CG policy or board charter; and
10. whether the non-executive directors meet separately at least once a year without any executives present.

SGX RegCo also emphasised that Singapore entities should also prepare for upcoming requirements and emerging expectations such as climate reporting disclosures and artificial intelligence (AI) risk management.

While SGX RegCo recognises that some entities have already adopted these measures, it encourages those that have yet to do so to integrate the recommended actions into their CG practices and processes. Adopting these practices would help enhance Singapore’s standing in the ACGS.

The full ACGS questionnaire is available here, and the ACGS findings can be accessed here.