8 Ayala firms cited for good governance

MANILA, Philippines — Eight companies from the Ayala Group received recognition from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) for practicing good corporate governance.

 The awards were received during the recently concluded ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) ceremony.

 The eight firms which ranked among the Top Performing Companies in 2017 are Ayala Corp.,  Ayala Land, Globe Telecom, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Manila Water Co., Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc., Cebu Holdings and Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp.

Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said good corporate governance has always been a priority of the group.

 “Governance has always been a hallmark of Ayala. It is imperative that we continue to improve our internal systems and processes towards upholding and protecting the rights of all our shareholders, from our customers to our investors. This commitment is shared at all levels across the group.

I am pleased to note that our efforts continue to go beyond mere compliance, as we actively seek ways to strengthen the governance culture within the group,” Zobel said.

 ICD is a non-stock, non-profit organization that raises the corporate governance standards of the Philippines. The event recognized PLCs within the country, which promote and sustain good governance within their respective organizations and whose governance policies and practices have been reviewed against globally accepted standards.

 It was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to serve as the domestic ranking body of the corporate governance scorecard as part of the ASEAN Corporate Governance Initiative to assess and rank publicly-listed corporations in six participating ASEAN countries.

 These are the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The assessment is based on international corporate governance best practices.