TDS Desk:

Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) awarded 41 companies for their outstanding corporate governance practices as well as transparency and accountability in overall management.

The 11th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence 2023 was organised by ICSB in Dhaka on Saturday.

The companies were mainly evaluated in terms of how perfectly they promoted corporate governance, transparency and accountability in overall management of their team during the year 2023, and ensuring compliance of Corporate Governance Code of Bangladesh Securities  and Exchange Commission (BSEC)

Theme of the award ceremony was “Promoting Governing Excellence”.

Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Adviser to the Ministry of Finance and Commerce, was present as the chief guest.

Finance Secretary Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Commerce Secretary Md. Selim Uddin, BSEC Chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan attended the event as special guests.

Speaking at the event as a chief guest, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, “This award is not only an emblem, but also a standard of corporate excellence in our country. In past decades, ICSB has emerged as a trustworthy name in the area of corporate  governance, which is really commendable.”

Congratulating the winners, he said, “Due to such felicitations, now the public listed companies are more concerned in maintaining good governance and compliance issues. This award will motivate organisations and their leaders to make further improvements in governance.

BSEC chairman  Khondoker Rashed Maqsood said, “For a sustainable capital market, the listed companies must be committed to the compliance of the corporate governance code and be transparent and accountable.”

Finance Division Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Majumdar  said, “The most important contribution of this event is raising awareness about governance, transparency, and accountability in corporate management. ICSB is working to enhance the capabilities and creativity of chartered.”

The NBR chairman said, “Compliance has to be ensured from each place.  Wherever non-compliance is seen, we should be alert.”

Md. Selim Uddin said, “To ensure governance in a company, the role of company secretaries is very important. ICSB is working to enhance the capability and creativity of the chartered  secretaries in the business sector.”

Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee and Senior Vice President of ICSB M Nurul Alam FCS welcomed all the participants.

He said, “We promote and encourage good governance practices in Bangladesh’s corporate sector. We recognise the companies and their management teams committed to good governance, compliance to the corporate governance code of BSEC, IDRA, the Companies Act 1994 and global best practices.”

The guests presented trophies and certificates to 41 winning companies under 14 categories who are listed with the country’s stock exchanges. Companies were recognised with awards in the Gold, Silver and Bronze categories.

Who are the winners

In the general banking category, Eastern Bank won the gold trophy while BRAC Bank secured silver and City Bank won bronze.

IDLC Finance won the gold award in the non-bank financial institutions category while IPDC bagged silver and DBH Finance received bronze award.

In the general insurance category, the gold trophy went to City Insurance PLC. the silver to Green Delta Insurance PLC. and the b,ronze to Sena Insurance.

In the life insurance category Pragati Life Insurance Limited bagged the silver award and National Life Insurance PLC received the bronze trophy.

Square Pharmaceuticals PLC took home the top honour in the pharmaceuticals and chemical category.

The IBN Sina Pharmaceutical Industry PLC won silver and The Acme Laboratories Limited and Navana Pharmaceuticals PLC. both received bronze trophies.

In the textile and readymade garment (RMG) company category, Paramount Textile PLC bagged the gold, Matin Spinning Mills PLC. got silver and Square Textiles PLC and Shasha Denims Limited both received bronze trophies.

Unilever Consumer Care Limited won gold, Olympic Industries Limited won silver and Agricultural Marketing Company Ltd. bronze in the Food and Allied Company category.

IT Consultants PLC got the gold trophy in the Information and Communication Technology category, ADN Telecom Limited won silver and BDCOM Online Limited and Aamra Technologies Limited both received bronze trophies.

Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC. got the Gold trophy in the engineering category, Singer Bangladesh Limited won Silver and BSRM Steels Limited won Bronze trophy.

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Ltd won gold, RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited bagged silver and Index Agro Industries Limited and Marico Bangladesh Limited both received bronze trophies in the manufacturing category.

In the fuel and power Company category, United Power Generation & Distribution Company Ltd. secured gold, MJL Bangladesh PLC won silver and Linde Bangladesh Limited received bronze trophy.

Unique Hotel & Resorts PLC won the top honour in the service company category while Eastern Housing Limited bagged silver.

In the telecommunications category, Grameenphone Ltd. received a gold award and Robi Axiata PLC. received silver and Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC. secured bronze trophy.