HONG KONG--()--The Red Flag Group, a global professional services firm in the areas of corporate governance and compliance, today releases a report which provides a detailed insight into the publicised approaches to corporate governance and compliance by listed companies in Hong Kong. This report is the result of an extensive study on publically-projected governance and compliance programmes and codes of conduct.
The study looks at 150 of the leading public companies in Hong Kong, and uses their publically-available material to ascertain how seriously corporate governance and compliance measures are being addressed. Divided into two parts, the report firstly looks at overall approaches to governance and compliance issues, and secondly provides a thorough assessment of publically-available codes of conduct.
Michael Woodward, Consultant at The Red Flag Group, says, “One of the more evident and concerning results found was the distinct lack of companies that publicise their code of conduct. Only 21 out of the 150 companies examined made their code of conduct (or similar document) publically available.
“The results indicate that there is reluctance amongst Hong Kong listed companies to divulge their efforts in mitigating the risks that they face. This means that stakeholders are not fully informed of how governance and compliance measures are benefitting the organisation.”
The results from the study show that, overall, publically-listed companies in Hong Kong are not doing enough in terms of providing a transparent approach to their risk-mitigation efforts.
Scott Lane, CEO of The Red Flag Group, says, “We have seen a growing trend of investors becoming more and more welcoming of a company making its operations transparent. Being open about internal programmes helps attract investors, and gives businesses a competitive advantage by being able to sooner identify the deficiencies in its risk-management practices. Companies need to go beyond simply doing as the law states if they are to be seen as conducting business ethically.”
Click here for the Corporate Governance and Compliance Study 2012 – Hong Kong.
Notes to editors:
The Red Flag Group is a world-leading independent corporate governance and compliance firm, providing competitive advantage to Fortune 1000 companies through its range of advanced compliance and anti-corruption advisory services and technology solutions.