Big firms bag PSE’s 2015 Bell Awards

Two companies under the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and one each from the Ayala, Sy and Aboitiz groups were honored as the top five publicly-listed Philippine companies that exemplify good corporate governance.

During the Philippine Stock Exchange’s 4th Bell Awards on Wednesday night, Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Philex Mining were honored alongside Ayala-led Globe Telecom, Sy-led China Bank and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

China Bank has bagged a Bell Award for the fourth consecutive year.

The Bell Awards for good governance also honored the year’s top trading participants: Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities, Macquarie Capital Securities, Credit Suisse Securities, RS Lim & Co. Inc. and Deutsche Regis.

Both Maybank and RS Lim have won the Bell Awards for the third straight year.

The 10 winners were chosen from 80 shortlisted candidates. “The awardees went through the reel so to speak … and deserve our admiration,” said PSE director Edgardo Lacson.

“Excellence is not an act but a habit,” PSE chair Jose Pardo said during the awarding ceremonies.

“Behind every Bell awardee is a deliberate and conscious decision and effort from its board of directors down to its management and staff to instill good governance in its processes and practices and in upholding the interest of all its stakeholders including minority interests,” Pardo added.

“It is encouraging to know that many are with us in our advocacy. Strengthening a culture of good corporate governance in the capital market and in our country is a collaborative effort of the PSE, the government, the listed companies and the trading participants,” said PSE president Hans Sicat.

Since 2012, the PSE has been evaluating listed companies based on their compliance with the corporate governance guidelines and relevant rules and regulations. The PSE has also been assessing trading participants based on their performance in regulatory audits and compliance with market regulations and trading rules.

Corporate governance refers to the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled.  This involves balancing the interests of the many stakeholders such as shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community.

This year’s PSE Bell Awards Panel of Judges was led by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa and composed of Capital Markets Integrity Corporation president Cornelio Gison, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the Philippines H.E. Kok Li Peng, Philippine Institute for Development Studies president Gilberto Llanto, De La Salle University president and chancellor Raymundo Suplido, FSC and National Treasurer Roberto Tan.