In 2018, when Chew Yi Hong and I published the first-ever report covering remuneration practices of all listed issuers, except real estate investment trusts (REITs), business trusts (BTs) and stapled trusts, with a primary listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), we faced a significant challenge. Many issuers did not disclose the exact remuneration of each individual director and CEO. Even though the 2012 Code of Corporate Governance applicable at that time recommended the disclosure of exact remuneration of each individual director and the CEO, only 36% of issuers did so for the Chairman, 30% for the CEO, 27% for executive directors (EDs), 42% for non-executive directors (NEDs), and 38% for independent directors (IDs). The majority of companies disclosed by bands, with a small minority using unlimited bands or not disclosing at all.

Fast forward to today, there is now more transparency about remuneration amounts for individual directors and CEOs. This followed the decision of SGX to make such disclosures mandatory for all annual reports for financial years ending on or after 31 December 2024.

Later this month, the Centre for Investor Protection at NUS Business School will publish a report on the latest remuneration practices of more than 500 issuers with a primary listing on SGX, based on annual reports for financial years ending on or after 31 December 2024.   The improved transparency allowed us to undertake a detailed analysis of remuneration amounts in this report.

Nevertheless, remuneration disclosures remain a “glass half full” situation, as disclosures on remuneration policies remain generally poor. Transparency around remuneration policies is just as important as transparency regarding remuneration amounts, arguably even more so. Importantly, remuneration policies should be aligned to long-term value creation for shareholders and stakeholders.  On their own, remuneration amounts may be poor indicators of whether remuneration is fair or excessive.

With the Value Unlock initiative launched by MAS and SGX to revitalise the Singapore market, conversations relating to how to design remuneration policies to incentivise directors and senior executives to create long-term value are critical. However, such conversations are best done when we know what issuers are actually doing and where the gaps may be.

In this coming report, we provide information on how much chairmen, CEOs, EDs and NEDs are paid, using exact amounts disclosed by issuers. We also provide information on remuneration paid to key management personnel (KMP) other than directors and CEOs, and family members of directors, CEOs and substantial shareholders, although information for these individuals is less transparent. We compare remuneration amounts, remuneration breakdowns and other remuneration practices across issuers based on a number of factors.

We take a very close look at many other aspects of remuneration policies, such as mix of remuneration, use of long-term incentives, types of share-based remuneration, and performance measures used for awards/vesting of long-term incentives.

A separate analysis will be done for REITs, business trusts and stapled trusts, as their remuneration practices are different.

I am looking forward to sharing some of these findings at the coming Remuneration Forum organised by GDInstitute Ltd (GDI), and supported by SGX Regco. A panel discussion involving a balance of company and investor representatives will then exchange views on remuneration policies that align with long-term value creation across a range of entities.

I hope RC chairs and members, directors, senior executives, investors and other stakeholders will join the forum.

They can sign up for the forum here: https://www.gd.institute/remuneration-2026-forum/?