With shareholders defending their rights in other parts of the world, institutional investors in Asia must take a more active role in advocating good corporate governance around the region, according to Mark McCombe, Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific chairman at BlackRock.
The investment community in Asia is entering a “transition phase” as the roles of shareholders and institutional investors are becoming important for fostering good corporate governance, Mr McCombe said at a recent FT conference in Hong Kong.
“The shareholder spring is really perhaps more about companies having to wake up to the fact that corporate governance is much higher on the agenda,” Mr McCombe said.