HKICPA announces the winners of the Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards 2024

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) has released the results of the “Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards 2024” with the winners receiving their awards in the Presentation Ceremony on 25th November.

The award honours exceptional accomplishments in corporate governance (CG) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices by Hong Kong-listed corporations and also public sector organizations. Launched in 2000, the coveted Awards have been influential in setting benchmarks and promoting advancements in CG and, more recently, ESG standards in Hong Kong.

Reflecting the high standard of entries this year, the number of awardees has reached a new record, with a total of 38 listed companies and public sector organizations receiving accolades. Among the awardees, five companies are first-time winners. The number of winners at the highest level of achievement -- the Most Sustainable Companies/Organizations (“MSCO”) Awards-- has also increased compared with the previous year, with three companies winning an award at this level for the first time.

In reviewing this year’s performance, Mr. Roy Leung, Chair of the judging panel, applauds all the participants for their efforts and the winners for their outstanding performance. He commends the MSCO awardees for “taking clear steps to integrate CG and ESG considerations into their business values, strategies and operations”.

 Leung supplements: “Given the growing importance of data protection and cybersecurity to companies and organizations, and their stakeholders, one of the new areas considered by the review and judging panels this year was information technology and cybersecurity governance. In fact, the HKICPA also issued a separate report on this subject in November 2024.”

According to the Judges’ Report, there has been a significant improvement in the standard of CG over the past years. But there is still some room for further improvement in disclosures and practices in various areas, such as risk management, diversity and corporate culture.

Mr. Patrick Rozario, Chair of the Awards’ review panel, remarks: “As the standard setter for Hong Kong’s newly-published sustainability disclosure standards, and following the publication of the Government’s roadmap on sustainability disclosure in Hong Kong, HKICPA will continue to work closely with the Government, financial regulators and other stakeholders to support companies in Hong Kong on sustainability capacity building, and enable them to maintain sustainability-related disclosures up to international standards.”