HCM CITY — The Việt Nam Listed Company Awards (VLCA) kicked off its 2018 season in HCM City yesterday.

The awards, given jointly by the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE), the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) and Việt Nam Investment Review magazine, and sponsored by Dragon Capital Group, are an extension of the Việt Nam Annual Awards (ARA), an event that has accompanied the growth of Việt Nam’s stock market and listed companies for a decade now.

Besides the annual reporting awards and the sustainability reporting awards, this year’s contest will also conduct an in-depth review of corporate governance standards at listed companies.

The aim of the review is to encourage listed firms to adopt international standards of governance and promote sustainability.   

A corporate governance set of standards developed by the VLCA’s organising committee is based on the standards of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with adjustments made to suit the local situation.

Besides annual reports, judges will also take into account information published by companies between July 1 last year and April 30 this year on other channels, such as their own website or policymakers’ websites.

An independent third-party judge will be invited to evaluate the corporate governance section. 

The preliminary results of the awards and corporate governance review will be checked by global auditors Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG, and PwC to ensure the highest level of transparency, impartiality and professionalism.

Another new aspect of the VLCA this year is that participating companies, wherever they are listed, will be classified into three groups based on their market capitalisation (large cap, mid-cap or small cap).

This classification will create opportunities for mid- and small-sized companies, encouraging them to take part in the awards. 

There will be awards in three categories, Annual Reports, Corporate Governance, and Sustainability Reporting.

In the Annual Reports category, 10 mid-cap and small-cap companies each and five large-cap companies will be chosen for the awards.

In the Corporate Governance category, it will be five each.

The Sustainability Reporting Awards will be given with assistance from the International Finance Corporation and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. There will be one first and second prize each and three consolation prizes based on the completeness, reliability and presentation of reports.

The preliminary round and auditing of results will end on August 31 and the final round on September 15. The awards ceremony is expected to take place in October. — VNS