Smaller listed firms lag on disclosure and ESG governance: report

Companies were strongest in disclosures relating to rights of shareholders.

Small and mid-cap companies (SMID) in Singapore continue to fall well short of their larger peers on disclosure quality and sustainability governance, even after narrowing the overall governance gap in 2026, according to the latest Singapore Governance and Transparency Index.

The shortfall was most pronounced in Disclosure and Transparency, where smaller firms trailed large-cap companies by 20 percentage points, scoring a mean normalised 47% against 67% for large caps. The gap was also wide in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Stakeholders, where SMID companies scored 66% against 79% for large caps, a 13-point difference.

Large-cap companies are those with market capitalisation above $1b, whilst SMID companies have market capitalisation of up to $1b.

Despite these gaps, smaller firms made overall progress. The difference in mean scores between large-cap and SMID companies narrowed to 17.7 points in 2026, from 19.8 points in 2025.

Across all companies, disclosures were strongest in Rights of Shareholders, with a mean normalised score of 85%, followed by Accountability and Audit at 71% and ESG and Stakeholders at 67%. Companies ranked in the top 100 outpaced the overall mean for Disclosure and Transparency by 16 percentage points.

In the General Category, Keppel topped the rankings, followed by ComfortDelGro, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, DBS and SATS. The overall mean score stood at 69.5 points, slightly lower than 70.9 points in 2025.

In the REIT and Business Trust Category, CapitaLand Ascott Trust placed first, followed by CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, NetLink NBN Trust, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and Far East Hospitality Trust.

The index is an annual study jointly conducted by CPA Australia, the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School, and the Singapore Institute of Directors.

It ranks Singapore Exchange-listed companies on their governance disclosures and practices, as well as the timeliness, accessibility and transparency of their financial disclosures, using a five-pronged framework covering Board Responsibilities, Rights of Shareholders, ESG and Stakeholders, Accountability and Audit, and Disclosure and Transparency.

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