Overview

The Corporate Governance Excellence Award will now run its fourth edition. It runs every two years and examines the achievements for the last two years. It was initiated to raise awareness of the benefits of greater transparency and accountability to stakeholders and to encourage companies to comply with the Code of Corporate Governance.

The OCGS Awards recognize the important contribution governance professionals make in terms of best practices that build and sustain shareholder and stakeholder value. the CG Award underscores the value and role of Public companies, and that many of the general principles of CG can also be applied to PCs, SOEs and NFPs to improve their performance.
These guidelines entail an overview of the award, the objectives, criteria, and requirements for participation.

For any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us at ocgs@cma.gov.om or

• Mohammed Al-Brashdi, ( Main contact person )
  Tel : 24823187 ; Email: mohd.albarashdi@cma.gov.om
• Ahmed Al-Mukhaini
  Tel: 24823185 ; Email: ahmed.almukhaini@cma.gov.om
• Zainab Al-Lawati
  Tel: 24823167 ; Email: zainab.allawati@cma.gov.om
• Mohammed Al Shaqsi
  Tel: 24823103 ; Email: mohd.alshaqsi@cma.gov.om

Objectives

The Corporate Governance Excellence Award seeks to creates awareness ; encourage and recognize the achievements and excellence in management acumen, financial performance, corporate social responsibility, environmental practices and investor relations, of Public Listed Companies, Boards and management teams. Through the Awards, OCGS aims to provide shareholders, both institutional and retail, with a window into good CG practices at Oman SAOGs.

The aims of the Award are as follows:

• Creating a benchmark for outstanding companies to serve as a recognised role model for good Corporate Governance
• Incentivising better corporate governance standards through recognition. Recognizing excellence and rewarding distinguished organisations
• Build a culture of openness and transparency
• Encourage Compliance with the code of Corporate Governance
• Enhance local and foreign investment.
• Driving improved performance among listed companies, through management’s accountability to use better business and governance models

Returns on Participants

Benefits for winners

The winners will be recognised in an official ceremony attended by senior government officials and members of the private sectors and the media.

In addition, they will have the following benefits:

• Media publicity where the winners’ names and logo will be shared with all media outlets
• Permission to use the award title and logo on winners; website and other marketing materials

Benefits for participants

Participants who do make it to the finishing line will be presented with a certificate of participation and a brief diagnostic report of a shortcomings in their corporate governance practices with a view to enhance them for the next edition of the award. They will also be invited attend the award ceremony.

The categories

Oman Centre for Governance and Sustainability classifies the Awards into the 3 sectors

Eligibility

Competing for the awards is open to all listed companies in Muscat Securities Markets.

Please note:

• The competition is open to all public listed companies in MSM
• Interested companies must register to express their intent as per the application process explained below
• Only one application per category may be accepted for any given organization, i.e. an organization cannot compete in more than one category
• All of the award categories will evaluate achievements from the year of 2014/2015

Application Process

Initial Steps

Applicants will be required to:

1. Download and fill in the registration form available on the CMA website (www.cma.gov.om) and send it by e-mail to ocgs@cma.gov.om. Please insert “Registration Form and company’s name “in the subject line of the e-mail.
2. Download and fill in the award questionnaire and send it by e mail to ocgs@cma.gov.om. Please insert “Questionnaire“ followed by your company’s name in the e-mail.
3. Questionnaires not preceded by a registration form will not be accepted.
4. The applicant should provide supporting documents as required or listed on the form in soft copy only. Should a circumstance arise where hand deliveries are the only means available, applicants are advised to coordinate with OCGS ahead of time, to ensure receipt.
5. Upon receipt, entries will be acknowledged by email. Please ensure that you have received confirmation of your entry before the closing date as no correspondence will be entertained afterwards.
6. Note that entries once submitted will become the property of OCGS and will not be returned. However, entries can be corrected before the submission deadline.

Timeline

1. Commencement of Application Process: Sunday, 1st March 2015.
2. Applications Deadline: All applications must reach OCGS before 19.00 hours Oman local time, Thursday 7th May 2015.
3. Jury Session: Monday 27th July, 2015
4. Awards Ceremony: 13th October 2015

Awarding Process

The participating companies are assessed in seven areas by a series of questions based on regulatory practices and international best practice. These areas are; Ensuring the Basis for a Corporate Governance Framework, The Board, Transparency & Disclosure, Sustainable Prosperity, Control & Risk Management, and The Rights of Shareholders.

The judging process will be divided into 2 main parts:

Part I : Evaluation

This will involve assessing the answers received from companies by the team of OCGS staff, academician and lawyers. This will entail a proper verification of the answers and supporting documents.

Part II : Jury Panel

The jury panel is composed of governance and business sustainability experts from within and outside the Sultanate. They are independent and have a final say on the winners of the award. Panel members have the right to withhold any award in any of the categories if they deem the participants not to have exhibited sufficient evidence of qualifications for that award.

Entries will be judged by an independent expert panel who will assess the corporate governance practices and determine the winners.

The jury’s decision is final and no correspondence or communication will be entertained.
Companies which achieve 50 percent or above of the overall score will be shortlisted for the second part, which will mainly be interviewing the shortlisted companies. The judging panel will conduct an interview with each of the shortlisted companies.

Confidentiality

All information given in application documents will be treated as confidential and will not be shared with any third party. Provided information may be used for further studies by OCGS.

Disclaimer

Submitting an application or competing for an award does not guarantee being granted an award.
OCGS reserves the right to withdraw an award from any applicant supplying false information within their application.
By submitting the registration form or answered questionnaire, the applicant agrees to the above terms and conditions and to subsequent terms and conditions.