SGX launches Comply or Explain Sustainability Reporting
SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) has officially released the Guidelines and Rule on Sustainability Reporting yesterday, June 20 2016. These guidelines are in line with the global trend of stock exchanges requiring companies to report on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues for financial year 2017. The SGX guidelines expect that companies ‘comply’ or ‘explain’, that is, commit themselves to producing an annual guidance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) in the form of a sustainability report, or ‘explain’ why they are not doing so.
It is important to know that globally, twenty stock exchanges have already committed to producing a guidance for listed companies on ESG disclosures as part of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE). This required all stock exchanges that are members of the SSE and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) to provide listed companies with guidance on sustainability reporting by the end of 2016. SGX has supported this initiative like many others and sees the introduction of these “Comply or Explain” guidelines for companies listed on their exchange, as a necessary step towards ESG and sustainability reporting so that companies can improve their communication with investors, analysts and stakeholders.
Getting non-financial information about a company has been difficult for investors. The main aim of these requirements is to provide a more complete profile of a company for investors and stakeholders. If your company wants to embark on your sustainability reporting journey, you may find Paia’s Sustainability Reporting Toolkit that we are rolling out to simplify the reporting process specifically for SMEs. This Toolkit provides SMEs with the necessary tools to produce a sustainability report in line with SGX’s requirements.
Paia is also rolling out training sessions and workshops catered to companies wishing to produce quality sustainability reports. For more details, please visit our Training page
