At its 25th Annual Conference in Taipei last week, the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) unveiled CG Watch 2026, its flagship survey of corporate governance standards across 12 Asia-Pacific markets. Titled “Uneven momentum,” the report shows that absolute scores rose in nearly every market, but the pace of progress has been variable and the gap between the highest- and lowest-scoring markets remains around 40 percentage points.

Australia retained first place with a score of 75.0, followed by Japan at 69.8. Singapore (67.8) and Taiwan (67.4) tied for third, while Malaysia (63.2) and Korea (62.8) shared fifth. Korea recorded the largest improvement of any market (+5.7 points) and climbed three places, overtaking both Hong Kong (62.0) and India (60.5). China also posted a strong gain (+5.5) to 49.3, while Indonesia saw a slight decline.

The findings note that progress is concentrated in reporting quality, selective board practices and the rollout of Value Up-style programmes in seven markets. At the same time, board independence remains thin across much of the region, Value Up initiatives are still largely early-stage, and several markets have recorded material accounting and audit issues despite generally strong formal rules. The overall picture is one of incremental advance in some markets rather than broad-based convergence.

CG Watch 2026: Uneven Momentum across Asia