32 firms awarded for outstanding corporate governance
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) has awarded 32 companies for their outstanding corporate governance practices as well as transparency and accountability in overall management.
The 6th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2018 was presented to the winners at a programme at the Radisson Blu hotel in Dhaka on Saturday.
Bank Asia won the gold medal in the banking sector while Brac Bank secured silver and Eastern Bank bronze.
Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation scooped the top award in the non-bank financial institutions category. IDLC Finance came second and IPDC Finance third.
In the insurance category, the gold medal went to Green Delta Insurance, the silver to Reliance Insurance and the bronze to Prime Insurance Company.
IBN SINA Pharmaceutical Industry took home the top honour in the pharmaceuticals category. Square Pharmaceuticals won silver and Orion Pharma bronze.
In the textile and garment company category, Matin Spinning Mills bagged the gold medal, Paramount Textile got silver and Shasha Denims the bronze medal.
Golden Harvest Agro Industries, Gemini Sea Food and Aman Feed won gold, silver and bronze respectively in the food and allied company category.
In the IT and telecom category, state-run Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company secured the top honour while Grameenphone won silver and BDCOM Online the bronze award.
Singer Bangladesh got the gold medal in the engineering category, BSRM Steels silver and BBS Cables bronze.
British American Tobacco Bangladesh, RAK Ceramics and Premier Cement Mills won the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the manufacturing category.
In the fuel and power company category, MJL Bangladesh secured gold, Linde Bangladesh the silver medal and Summit Power received the bronze award.
Eastern Housing won the top honour in the service company category while Unique Hotel & Resorts came second.
AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former adviser to a caretaker government, handed over the awards to the winners.
Speaking at the event, he urged the corporate sector to treat all stakeholders equally and continuously improve upon their current level of efficiency and governance.
He said fair treatment for all stakeholders was required to ensure corporate governance.
“It is the responsibility of the corporate sector to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” the former adviser said.
He said government intervention was required when the market fails. The government also needs to ensure that corporate houses follow rules and regulations properly.
ICSB President Mozaffar Ahmed said good governance in the corporate sector was the need of the hour.
“The practice of good governance boosts the morale of staff and enhances productivity, which is needed to achieve long-term targets of business firms,” he said.
Ahmed said the Corporate Governance Code 2018 introduced by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission was a bold and time-befitting initiative aimed at aiding the establishment of corporate good governance in listed business firms.
Md Abdul Karim, a former principal secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, and Akhter Matin Chaudhury, chairman of the ICSB corporate governance committee, also spoke.
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