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ACGA’s first virtual conference

ACGA held the “Asian Business Dialogue on Corporate Governance 2020” as a virtual conference on Wednesday, 25 November 2020, a first in our 21 years of holding annual conferences. We had a stimulating programme and great speakers on the theme “Laying Stronger Governance Foundations for ESG in Asia-Pacific”. More than 260 delegates signed up for the live event, webcast from Hong Kong.

Opening: Anthony Muh Yi-tong, ACGA chairman.

The conference opened with words of welcome from ACGA Chairman Anthony Muh Yi-tong, Partner and Asia Chairman of H.R.L. Morrison & Co. The first plenary session was a preview of the latest CG Watch 2020 market rankings and scores, given by ACGA Secretary General, Jamie Allen and CLSA’s Regional Head of ESG & Thematic Research, Seungjoo Ro, who also previewed CLSA’s new ESG sectoral report. The full edition of CG Watch 2020 will be officially launched in early 2021.

Plenary 1 (from left to right): Seungjoo Ro of CLSA and Jamie Allen of ACGA.

In the second plenary, The Chairman’s Dialogue, ACGA Chairman Anthony Muh Yi-tong moderated a Q&A with Ashley Alder, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, on his thoughts about Hong Kong’s future in the face of current geopolitical challenges and how Hong Kong will tackle ESG and the green finance space.

Plenary 2: Ashley Alder, CEO, Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong

Over the lunch break virtual delegates were able to post questions to the ACGA research team in the “Chat Room for Virtual Delegates with the CG Watch 2020 team”. Jamie Allen moderated the Zoom chat with our team who are based around Asia: research directors Sharmila Gopinath (Kochi), Nana Li (Hangzhou) and Neesha Wolf (Taipei), and our specialist consultants in Singapore, Christopher Leahy and Benjamin McCarron.

ACGA’s CG Watch 2020 chat room team
(top, from left to right): Jamie Allen, Sharmila Gopinath, and Nana Li,
(bottom, from left to right) Benjamin McCarron, Neesha Wolf, and Chris Leahy.

In the afternoon, we had two engaging panel discussions on ESG reform and diversity within management. The ESG panel was moderated by Ronnie Lim, Senior Engagement Specialist of Robeco Asia-Pacific and ACGA Council Member, and the speakers were Yoo-Kyung Park, Head of Responsible Investment & Governance, Asia Pacific of APG Asset Management Asia, Dharisha Mirando, Investor Engagement & Water Risk Valuation Lead of China Water Risk, and John Sayer, Director of Carbon Care Asia. The diversity panel was facilitated by Ka Shi Lau, Managing Director & CEO of BCT Group and ACGA Council Member, and the speakers were Fiona Nott, Chief Executive Officer of The Women’s Foundation, and Peter Hwang, Managing Director, Asia, of Iron Mountain.

Plenary 3 (from left to right): Yoo-Kyung Park of APG Asset Management Asia,
Dharisha Mirando of China Water Risk, John Sayer of Carbon Care Asia,
and Ronnie Lim of Robeco Asia-Pacific.
 

Plenary 4 (from left to right): Jamie Allen, Ka Shi Lau of BCT Group,
Fiona Nott of The Women’s Foundation, and Peter Hwang of Iron Mountain.

Thank you to all our speakers for their lively and engaging discussions. Many thanks to our principal sponsors CLSA and Fidelity International; supporting sponsors Capital Group and CLP Holdings; and workshop sponsors Blackpeak and UBS, for their continual support through the adversities of the past year. Our gratitude also goes to Taishin Financial Holdings for hosting a group viewing of the webcast for our delegates in Taipei.

Following on from the November videoconference, there are two webinar workshops on the topics of Sustainability Reporting (2 December) and Climate-Ready Boards (16 December).