Foreword

This report offers a comprehensive review of the main trends and issues related to sustainability policies and practices for corporate governance in Asia. It provides information for policy makers, regulators and market participants on some of the key dimensions they may consider when assessing or improving their national corporate governance frameworks on sustainability matters.

The report provides an overview of the current sustainability disclosure policies and practices, the responsibilities of company boards and shareholder rights in 18 Asian jurisdictions, in alignment with the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (hereafter “G20/OECD Principles”). The revised G20/OECD Principles – the leading international standard in the field of corporate governance – were adopted by OECD Ministers and endorsed by G20 Leaders in 2023. An overarching goal of the revision was to promote corporate governance policies that support the sustainability and resilience of corporations which, in turn, can contribute to the sustainability and resilience of the broader economy. In particular, the G20/OECD Principles include a new chapter on “Sustainability and resilience”, which provides recommendations to support companies in managing the risks and opportunities of the climate transition and other sustainability challenges. This report offers a baseline for understanding how Asian jurisdictions will be making progress on sustainability-related policies and practices. Future work is envisioned with the participants of the OECD-Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance to continue supporting good corporate governance policies and practices in the region in line with the revised G20/OECD Principles.

This report was authored by Anna Dawson, Carl Magnus Magnusson, Tugba Mulazimoglu and Yun Tang under the supervision of Alejandra Medina, all from the Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs. The report was shared for comments with the jurisdictions participating in the OECD-Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance. The authors are grateful for the inputs received from 16 Asian jurisdictions, namely, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter ‘China’), Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Viet Nam. The report was prepared with the financial support of the Government of Japan.