The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Taipei Exchange (TPEx) cohosted the 5th round of Corporate Governance Evaluation Award Ceremony on 9th floor of Taipei 101 at 3pm on May 28. Awards were presented to 77 listed companies (43 TWSE-listed companies and 34 TPEx-listed companies) that ranked in the top 5% of the evaluation in recognition of their achievements. In addition to inviting Wellington L. Koo, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission to present awards at the ceremony, heads of the competent authorities and securities institutions were also invited to join the celebration.

TWSE Chairman Jan-Yau Hsu said in his speech that following the 2013 Corporate Governance Roadmap announced by the competent authority, the TWSE created the Corporate Governance Center in 2013 to be responsible for integrating public and private resources and implementing important policies, such as regulation development and corporate governance evaluation. The implementation of the CG Evaluation system has effectively inspired enterprises to proactively implement good corporate governance policies, including: adoption of nominating systems in director and supervisor elections, establishment of audit committees, disclosure of English information, compilation of corporate social responsibility reports. In terms of international ratings, while MSCI recently adjusted Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to 10.9%, Taiwan's weighting in the latest MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index is 15.2%. It shows large institutional investors still have quite a lot of confidence in corporate governance in Taiwan.

Companies that implement good governance systems and develop sound business practices tend to find it easier to attract investors and obtain funding, making companies more competitive in the long term and thus creating positive benefits for both companies and investors. Statistics show that the Year 2018 EPS of Top 5% TWSE-listed companies in the CG evaluation averaged NT$4.33 while the overall average was NT$2.94. In addition, Taiwan Corporate Governance 100 Index, which consists of Top 20% TWSE-listed companies in the CG evaluation, has risen by 46.72％ by the end of April 2019 since its release on June 29, 2015. The increase was larger than that for the TAIEX as a whole in the same period, which was 38.74%. Furthermore, Taiwan Corporate Governance 100 Index outperformed the market nearly all the time in the last four years. It shows that there is to some extent a link between corporate governance implementation, profitability and stock price.

FSC Chairman Wellington L. Koo said in his speech that the corporate governance evaluation helped companies examine their own advantages and disadvantages as well as results of corporate governance implementation, and provided a basis for improvement. Moreover, an evaluation of all listed companies provides investors information of governance performance of their investments and a basis for stock selection. The Corporate Governance Evaluation has been paid much attention by many since its launch. In addition, statistics reflect the fact that listed companies have shown a more proactive attitude toward adopting corporate governance best practices.

Capital markets are constantly changing. In response, FSC officially launched the 3-year New Corporate Governance Roadmap (2018-2020) in April 2018 as guidance to direct promotion of corporate governance. In particular, strengthening the effectiveness of corporate governance valuation is named a top priority. Meanwhile, important changes include stronger qualitative indicators, the addition of performance differentiation and sending questionnaires, aiming at promoting ongoing development of sound corporate governance practices in listed companies. To compete in a global world, it is important for a company to not only manage business development, but also ensure its ability to achieve steady long term growth. Corporate governance is part of the infrastructure to facilitate corporate sustainability. We look forward to having corporations, governments, and private organizations, working together to place a greater emphasis on corporate governance and improve the corporate governance culture in Taiwan and make Taiwanese businesses more globally competitive.

TWSE would like to take the opportunity to recognize outstanding companies and the efforts they invest in corporate governance. It is hoped the awarding companies as role models would lead the way for the rest and be the benchmark that would guide and direct capital market participants to better corporate governance practices.