[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has proposed extending the deadline for Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed companies’ compliance with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)-based climate-related disclosures by possibly one to two years.
This is one of the four recommendations released by the SBF on Thursday (Jun 26), in relation to the disclosure.
Under the SGX Regulation (SGX RegCo)’s prevailing sustainability reporting regime, all listed companies have to make climate-related disclosures for financial years (FY) commencing on or after Jan 1 this year, using the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards.
Data was collected by SBF and SGX RegCo in April and May from 40 SGX-listed companies on the mainboard and Catalist boards through a roundtable discussion and a survey, which showed that only 4 per cent were confident about meeting this timeline, even though all the engaged listed companies were already preparing for ISSB disclosures.
More than 90 per cent of them also said extending the timeline for mandatory ISSB disclosures, for example by one or two years, would be useful for them to prepare higher-quality ISSB reports. They also added that a time extension would not detract them from the work that they had already begun.
The four recommendations from SBF are:
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Grant small- and mid-cap listed companies more time to comply, for example, by one to two years;
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Make disclosure requirements proportionate for small- and mid-cap listed companies;
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Provide Singapore-relevant cross-sector and sector-specific guidance; and
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Designate a central platform for digital reporting of climate-related disclosures.
These recommendations apply to the small- and mid-sized listcos which make up 84 per cent of SGX-listings, since not all listings (including secondary-listed issuers) are subject to sustainability-reporting requirements.
Kok Ping Soon, chief executive of SBF, said: “Our key recommendation is to extend their compliance deadline, after engaging close to 40 small- and mid-cap listed companies. This does not represent a step back from Singapore’s climate-reporting ambitions, but is a practical measure to provide smaller listed companies more time to strengthen internal capabilities and incorporate best practices after larger listed companies make their ISSB disclosures for FY2025.”
While preparations for ISSB climate reporting are underway, a deadline extension would enable small- and mid-cap companies to, for example, prepare subsidiaries which may be based overseas. It would also strengthen data collection systems and enable these smaller businesses to take guidance from the FY2025 ISSB reports by larger listed companies.
Extending the deadline would also enable small- and mid-cap listed companies to be eligible for the Sustainability Reporting Grant (SRG) by the Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore, given that the SRG is awarded only to reports filed before compliance for mandatory climate-related disclosures kicks in.
He also stressed SBF’s recommendation of increasing awareness and application of proportionality mechanisms, with more guidance within and across sectors relevant to the city-state.
“These will help smaller listed companies in Singapore take full advantage of any compliance deadline extension to more effectively transition their business,” Kok said.
