Corporate Governance in Singapore – The Road Thus Far

Abstract

The first Code of Corporate Governance was adopted in Singapore 21 years ago in 2001. Since then, the Code has been re-issued three times, the last being in 2018. There has also been a shift in approach taken by the Singapore regulators with regards to how corporate governance should be enforced among companies, especially those listed on the Singapore Exchange. From a voluntary “comply-or-explain” approach to partially mandatory, instilling the right degree of corporate governance in Singapore companies has been a balancing act throughout these years. This paper examines some of the unique challenges facing Singapore and discusses how Singapore, though the use of both hard and soft law, has been able to mold its corporate governance regime to meet the international standards while tailoring it to the needs of local companies.

Keywords: Corporate governance, Singapore, board independence, board diversity, remuneration matters, government-linked companies