THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said corporate governance is improving in Southeast Asia as transparency and sustainability standards became more rigorous.
SEC Chairman Francisco Ed. Lim made the remarks in a speech during the 2025 ASEAN Corporate Governance Conference and Awards (CGCA) on July 24 in Kuala Lumpur.
“When we introduced the ASEAN Asset Class recognition in 2019, only 135 publicly listed companies (PLCs) qualified. This year, that number has risen to 250. This remarkable increase reflects growing awareness of the value of strong governance and transparency,” Mr. Lim said.
“Despite heightened standards, ASEAN companies have not only kept pace — they have exceeded expectations,” he added.
The CGCA had more than 400 participants, including regulators, PLCs, institutional investors, and corporate governance experts. The event is organized by the Minority Shareholders Watch Group with support from the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum and the Asian Development Bank.
The CGCA recognized top-performing PLCs based on the results of the 2024 ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) assessment.
The assessment is aligned with the 2023 G20/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Principles of Corporate Governance which placed greater emphasis on sustainability, board effectiveness, and stakeholder engagement.
Some 569 PLCs from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, were evaluated solely based on publicly available disclosures.
Six Philippine companies earned spots in the ASEAN Top 50 PLCs, while 35 received ASEAN Asset Class distinctions awarded to PLCs that scored at least 97.5 points, equivalent to 75% of the maximum attainable score of 130 under the ACGS.
The Philippines chairs and provides the secretariat for the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum Working Group on corporate governance. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave