China Banking Corporation (China Bank) received the coveted Five Golden Arrow Recognition, the highest corporate governance award given by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) to the country’s top publicly listed companies (PLCs) based on the 2021 ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) assessment results.
China Bank, which achieved an outstanding score of 120 to 130 points, and seven other SM Group companies, were distinguished at the ACGS Golden Arrow Awards Night on January 20, 2023 at the Sheraton Manila Hotel. BDO Unibank, Belle Corp., SM Investments Corp., and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. received Four Golden Arrows for scoring 110 to 119 points. 2Go Group, Inc., with a score of 100 to 109 points, got Three Golden Arrows, while Premium Leisure Corp. and Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. bagged Two and One Golden Arrows, respectively.
China Bank has been consistently achieving high marks in the ACGS assessments, winning Four Golden Arrows twice. This Five-Golden Arrow Award follows the Bank’s recognitions from the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum as among the Top 20 in ASEAN and Among the Top 3 in the Philippines in corporate governance, and as an ASEAN Asset Class.
“We worked hard to improve our ACGS scores with deliberate intent, not merely for the accolade, but because doing so ultimately redounds to better stewardship of China Bank and greater value creation for the people who bank with us,” said China Bank President William C. Whang. “We renew our commitment to do everything we can to be worthy of our stakeholders’ trust and deserving of our social license to do business. We will continue to live by the ethical principles that shaped our Bank’s rich history and to adopt the best governance practices.”
ICD recognized a total of 85 out of 264 publicly-listed companies for achieving a score of 80 points and above in the most recent ACGS assessment. The ACGS is an instrument for the assessment and ranking of PLCs in six participating ASEAN countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It aims to raise the corporate governance standards and practices of the country and to make well-governed Philippine listed companies attractive to investors.