Two senior executives of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group have taken top honours in the Directors Of The Year Awards 2015, run by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors (HKIoD).
MD Kent Wong and finance director cum company secretary Hamilton Cheng were recognised for outstanding leadership and contribution in practicing and promoting good corporate governance in the company.
Remarkably it means that two of only three individual director awards this year went to officers of the same company. Chow Tai Fook is the largest jeweller listed in Hong Kong and one of the world’s top few by market capitalisation with 86 years’ heritage
Wong was highly rated by the judging panel as a strategic leader and an outstanding practitioner of corporate governance responsible for building a corporate culture that empowers employees to follow internal procedures for proper checks and balances and timely disclosure.
“It is indeed a significant testimony to our dedication to corporate governance excellence with the full support of the board of directors,” said Wong of his win.
“Behind every innovative step we take to conduct our business, we stand firm in upholding our core value of “Sincerity‧Eternity” that echoes the importance of disclosure in corporate governance and the ultimate business sustainability for the long-term benefits to our shareholders and other stakeholders. I am most grateful to HKIoD for endorsing Chow Tai Fook’s relentless efforts in corporate governance and encouraging us to move forward.”
The judges described Cheng as “an exemplary executive director with strategic thinking who plays a vital role in transforming a conventional family-owned company into a corporate with overseas presence run by systematic management engaging scientific analyses and performance indicators, and improving the Group’s risk management and internal controls.
Said Cheng: “We firmly believe that good governance is critical to achieving continuous business development while meeting obligations towards shareholders and other stakeholders. We take pride in being able to institute a sound governance framework and introduce good practices that embrace transparency, accountability and integrity. Our goal is to develop a path that addresses the uniqueness of such companies in the practice of good corporate governance in tandem with the pursuit of sustainable value-creation for shareholders and other stakeholders.”
The Directors Of The Year Awards, which marks its 15th anniversary this year, aims to recognise outstanding boards and directors, publicising the significance of good corporate governance and
promoting good corporate governance and director professionalism. Effectiveness in strategic corporate business functions, contribution to board effectiveness, contribution towards managing change, risk and succession, leadership and other attributes and qualities, including continuing professional development for directors, and business ethics, etc. are among the judging criteria for the “Individual Director” category of the Awards.