Globe bags top award for corporate governance

Manila, Philippines - Globe Telecom received back-to-back citations from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and ATR KimEng Securities, Inc. for its outstanding practice in good corporate governance.

Globe bagged the much-coveted Platinum award from the ICD having been a Gold awardee for the third consecutive year. This is the first time ICD bestowed Platinum award and were given to only seven Philippine companies. For a company to qualify for a Gold award, a score of at least 95 percent in its Corporate Governance (CG) scorecard must be achieved. With this award, Globe joins the elite roster of publicly-listed corporations in the country by consistently achieving the highest CG scores since 2005 with an impressive 98 percent for its 2010 scorecard.

The CG Scorecard ranks companies based on how they perform against a set of corporate governance criteria which include policies and practices relating to rights of shareholders, equitable treatment of shareholders, role of stakeholders, disclosure and transparency, and board responsibilities. The project is jointly administered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the Institute of Internal Auditors of the Philippines (IIA-P), and the Ateneo Law School. 

The company was also recognized by ATR KimEng Securities as fully compliant among the telco and utilities sector companies in terms of corporate governance.

Globe scored the highest rating with zero non-compliance (100 percent compliant), making it the only company in the Philippines to achieve such rating.

The assessment was done against the guidelines set by the PSE on policies related to corporate governance such as sound business strategy, well-structured board, robust internal audit, enterprise risk management, integrity of financial reports, shareholder rights, disclosure and transparency, rights of other stakeholders, insider trading and ethics, compliance and enforcement.

“We are honored to be recognized by two of country’s most respected institutions. We at Globe are fully committed to best industry practices and we believe this sets us apart as among the most respected companies in the Philippines. We will continue to raise the bar of leadership through advocating global principles of transparency and good corporate governance,” said Ernest Cu, president and CEO of Globe Telecom.

Former Finance Secretary and ICD chairman Dr. Jesus Estanislao, lauded Globe for its staunch advocacy for good corporate governance and responsible and ethical business practices. “We believe that our platinum awardees are very well disposed to move beyond compliance and into higher levels of corporate governance standards and practices observed globally. Through corporate governance policies, the owners of Globe Telecom ensure that it pursues the mandate to protect the interests of the investing public and are accountable for governing and providing direction to the corporation.”

Globe Telecom’s chief financial officer Alberto de Larrazabal (inset) received the Platinum award from ICD.