Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards Highlight Importance of Corporate Governance When Listing Rules are Tightened and Enforcement Stepped Up

2018 Winners Demonstrate Board Diversification, Continuous Improvement in Risk Management and Deepening Governance Culture  

HONG KONG, Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The tightening of the listing rules by HKEX and the increased enforcement by the Securities and Futures Commission is a wakeup call to company directors and management that they must exercise their duties diligently, operate responsibly, respect the rights and interests of shareholders truthfully and be law-abiding at all times.

Mr. Francis Leung, Chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies ("CHKLC") made the above comment at the 2018 Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards Gala Dinner cum 16th Anniversary celebration of CHKLC.

Mr. Leung also advised companies to be extra vigilant and to adopt higher corporate governance standard as Hong Kong's stock market and economy are bracing more challenges ahead.  "At challenging times, companies with good corporate governance will stand out and distinguish themselves.  They are managed well, handle risk and internal control meticulously and exhibit a high degree of accountability and transparency."

"The Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards aims to encourage Hong Kong listed companies to embrace good governance and uphold shareholders' interests so that no matter at good times or bad, they would always have the resilience and strength to protect shareholder value and grow their business and to gain the confidence of shareholders.  CHKLC is very pleased to provide such a platform for issuers to showcase their success and share experience," added Mr. Leung.

"To maintain a market of high quality, it requires the co-operation of all market participants including the regulators, the issuers and investors.  Regulators must be fair and reasonable, issuers honest and responsible, and investors diligent and risk conscious.  If we all do our part, Hong Kong will certainly enhance its position as a leading international financial market and the IPO market of choice," Mr. Leung concluded.

The winners of the 2018 Hong Kong Corporate Governance Awards are China Shenhua Energy Company Limited, Hang Lung Properties Limited and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Limited in the Category for Hang Seng Index Constituent Companies; Chiho Environmental Group Limited and Kerry Logistics Network Limited in the Category for Hang Seng Composite Index Constituent Companies; Computer And Technologies Holdings Limited and Mason Group Holdings Limited in the Category for Others and GEM Companies, while SFK Construction Holdings Limited received an Honourable Mention in the Category for Newly-listed Companies.  New World Development Company Limited, Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited and VTech Holdings Limited received the Sustainability Excellence Awards.

Dr. Philip Tsai, Chairman of the Judging Panel, congratulated the winners and commented: "The winners demonstrated all-rounded excellence, in particular in their board diversification and engagement of directors; strive for continuous improvement in risk management and internal control, and efforts to deepen the governance culture both internally and externally."

 "Winners of the Sustainability Excellence Awards treat sustainability as a core part of their business instead of an extra burden and incorporate sustainability measures in their business and product life cycle," Mr. Tsai added.

Mr. Charles Li, Chief Executive of HKEX was Guest-of-Honour of the Gala Dinner.  Mr. Li delivered a keynote address on the current state of our stock market and its prospects.

For media enquiries
Amy Leung, CHKLC
Tel: (852) 2970 0886  /  Email: info@chklc.org

The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies
Room 3710, 37/F, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2970 0886
Fax: (852) 2970 0555
Website: www.chklc.org

Notes to Editors:

About the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards

"The Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards" are conferred annually since 2007 by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies and the Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy, Hong Kong Baptist University.

The Awards aim to foster the highest standards in corporate governance, business ethics and board leadership in Hong Kong; recognize excellence; showcase best practices and accomplishments, and thereby promote a strong corporate governance culture.

The Award provides recognition and prestige for listed companies in achieving outstanding commitment to shareholder rights, compliance, integrity, fairness, responsibility, accountability, transparency, board independence & leadership, and corporate social responsibility.

The Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards 2018 is supported by China Tonghai International Financial Limited as Gold Sponsor and BDO Limited as Bronze Sponsor.  In addition, Hong Kong Economic Times is Sole Chinese Media Sponsor; Metro Finance is Exclusive Radio Partner, PR Newswire is Regional News Distribution Partner; Quamnet, irasia.com, Moebius Asia and Wisdom Investor Relations are Online Media Partners, and the Chinese Edition of Bloomberg Businessweek is Print Media Partner.

For details of the Awards Programme and members of the Judging Panel, please visit www.chklc.org

About the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies

Incorporated in September 2002, CHKLC is a non-profit organisation serving listed companies in Hong Kong. The Chamber strives to promote sound corporate governance, function as an effective communication channel between listed companies and regulatory authorities, strengthen the commercial linkage and foster co-operation among listed companies from Hong Kong and mainland China and uphold Hong Kong's position as an international trade, commercial and financial centre.  Since 2007, the Chamber organises the annual Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards jointly with the Hong Kong Baptist University to advocate best practices of corporate governance and recognise excellence, and in 2008 and 2009 organised the Listed Companies Conference to provide a forum of discussion of stock market issues on a regular basis.  This event was held in Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

About the Centre for Corporate Governance & Financial Policy of Hong Kong Baptist University

The Centre aspires to be a Centre of Excellence on corporate governance in the region. It promotes quality policy and academic research on corporate governance and related financial policy issues covering Hong Kong, mainland China and the Asia-Pacific economies, with the aim to improve the quality of corporate governance practices. Additionally, the Centre provides professional executive education activities to disseminate knowledge and advance the highest ideals of responsible business leadership. Through consultancy projects, the Centre also assists organisations to design, improve and assess their corporate governance systems and structures.