Although surveys show that standards of corporate governance in Singapore have been improving in recent years, there is one area that receives less attention than it deserves: corporate culture, which encompasses the purpose of companies and the shared values, beliefs, norms and behaviours that guide their decisions and operations.

At the annual Corporate Governance Week conference on Monday, Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon indicated that MAS will work with the Singapore Exchange and Corporate Governance Advisory Committee, an industry-led body, to assess the merits of introducing a new provision in Singapore’s corporate governance code to promote good company culture. There is a strong case for doing this. Although rules and laws set out what companies are allowed to do – and what they must not – such regulations cannot prescribe what companies should do and how they should act. That is something which has to come from within.