背景

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“Institute”) is proud to be launching the 26^th Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards 2026 this year (“Awards”).

The Awards are widely regarded as one of the most rigorous and objective assessments of corporate governance (“CG”) and environmental social and governance (ESG) performance in Hong Kong. They continue to set benchmarks that inspire organisations to achieve the highest standards of transparency, accountability and sustainability, encouraging listed companies and public sector organisations (“PSOs”) to integrate strong corporate CG and ESG practices into organisational culture, strategy and operations.

Key objectives of the Awards are:

• Encourage organisations to demonstrate high standards of both CG and ESG, and to integrate these two aspects of performance into their values, strategies and operations
• Establish benchmarks of CG and ESG best practices in Hong Kong
• Inspire more organisations to implement best practices in relation to their own CG and ESG performance

Building on the momentum of last year's 25th Anniversary Awards, we have continued to refine the Awards. In line with the Institute’s commitment to innovation and continuous improvement, the 2026 Awards will feature the extensive adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the evaluation process. AI applications enhance the robustness and objectivity of the assessment, while allowing expert panels, comprising representatives from the HKSAR Government, financial market regulators, public sector authorities, academia, investors, professional associations and firms, as well as prominent CG and ESG experts, to focus on qualitative judgment and strategic insight.

Further refinements have been made to the structure of the Awards. This year, in addition to size categories, we are proposing for the first time to divide companies into seven industry sectors, based on the outcomes of review scores. These sectors are:

• Properties & Construction
• Financials
• Industrials
• Utilities & Energy
• Telecommunications & Information Technology
• Transportation & Logistics
• Others

Under this approach, companies will be grouped into industry categories according to market capitalisation—Large Cap and Medium & Small Cap. This refined structure aims to enable more balanced and meaningful comparisons among participating companies.

Meanwhile PSOs will continue to be grouped according to size, based on turnover or assets —Large Organisations and Medium & Small Organisations.

The judging focuses on disclosures and practices that go beyond the minimum statutory and regulatory requirements, reflecting organisations with a strong CG and ESG culture from the top down. The judges may also consider other publicly-available information that provides further insights into an organisation’s actual practices.

The Awards maintain stringent evaluation standards and take account of developments in regulatory requirements and sustainability reporting frameworks. The assessment framework incorporates elements of the Hong Kong sustainability disclosure standards (HKFRS SDS), which are aligned with the International Financial Reporting Standards SDS, and HKEX’s latest Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Code, at Appendix C2 of the listing rules (ESG Code), which includes phased climate-related disclosure requirements. 

While ESG is a principal focus of the Awards, organisations’ performance in CG remains equally important. As such, the Awards’ reviewers and judges will look at issues such as how boards are strengthening board effectiveness and independence, promoting diversity, enhancing risk management and internal controls, and improving capital management, as reflected in recent changes the Corporate Governance Code, at Appendix C1 of the Listing Rules and the Rules themselves.

The competition’s top accolades, the Most Sustainable Organisations (MSO) Awards, will continue to acknowledge entities that demonstrate an outstanding performance in both CG and ESG reporting and practices. Recognition will also be given to organisations excelling in either CG or ESG, alongside an "Elite Past Winners" category that encourages continuous improvement, by allowing consistent high performers to compete among their peers. Furthermore, highlighting emerging market leaders, the Institute will conduct a dedicated review of newly-listed companies that debuted between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2026, with the aim of recognising good role models of governance and/or sustainability among companies new to the Hong Kong market.

The inspiring efforts of awardees will be celebrated at a presentation ceremony scheduled to be held in November this year. In addition, a judges’ report, containing the overall findings and observations of the judges, will be published on the Institute’s website.

The Institute is grateful for the invaluable support for the Awards received from a wide range of stakeholders, including the HKSAR Government, financial market regulators, investor groups, professional associations and firms, the business community and academia. They are named as Supporting Organisations, and many of them provide expert judges and reviewers to assist with the evaluations and final judging. We are also grateful to our Financial Sponsors and AI service sponsor whose generous support helps to fund the competition, while reflecting their endorsement of the objectives of the Awards, as well as their reputation and standing in the Hong Kong market. Past award winners themselves have included many of Hong Kong’s major listed companies and PSOs.

Background and Entry Procedure

Further relevant details, including the judging criteria, the various categories of awards and the application process, is contained in the brochure (see the icons at the top of this page) inviting entries for the Awards. There is no fee for entering Awards 2026, and there are opportunities for recognition to be achieved and reputations to be enhanced. The submission deadline is 27 July 2026.

For additional background information, the judges' reports from past years, as indicated below (click on the relevant link) contain the results, as well as observations on the standard of CG and ESG in Hong Kong, and other material for the relevant year:

• 2000

• 2010

• 2020

• 2001

• 2011

• 2021

• 2002

• 2012

• 2022

• 2003

• 2013

• 2023

• 2004

• 2014

• 2024

• 2005

• 2015

• 2025

• 2006

• 2016

• 2026

• 2007

• 2017

• 2008

• 2018

• 2009

• 2019