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Chris Leahy - panellist at OECD Asia Corporate Governance Roundtable, Manila, Philippines

On 11 December 2024, Chris Leahy, ACGA Specialist Advisor for Southeast Asia, was invited as a speaker at the 25th Anniversary OECD-Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance, held at the SEC Headquarters in Makati, Manila.

Chris spoke on a panel entitled, “Institutional Investor Engagement.” The panel discussed the current landscape in Asian markets for institutional investor reengagement, how engagement could be further improved and what roles investors, regulators, companies and other stakeholders need to play to improve the level of institutional investor engagement. 

Chris noted the “patchwork” nature of institutional engagement in Asia, with certain markets, notably Japan, Korea and Malaysia, leading in the promotion of investor engagement in the region. The introduction of “value up” corporate governance initiatives by regulators in Japan, Korea and increasingly in other Asian markets is a positive move, noted Chris. However, the lack of well-managed and well-capitalized domestic institutional investors in certain Asian markets acts as a drag of greater progress on increasing meaningful institutional investor engagement. Fixing this obvious gap should be a priority for relevant Asian governments and regulators.