Singapore non-executive directors second best-paid in ASEAN

Hay Group's report shows ASEAN banks lead the way in non-executive remuneration.

Singapore received the second-highest pay among their peers in four ASEAN countries, namely, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, as the spotlight on corporate governance increases and with it, a greater interest in NED remuneration.

According to the report, at the median level, NEDs from large companies in Singapore received a remuneration of S$95,000 in 2010. Indonesian NEDs took the top spot at S$239,000 while NEDs in Thailand and Malaysia received S$59,000 and S$58,500 respectively.

The Hay Group report also shows that the remuneration for NEDs climbed steadily over the three years. Singapore NEDs saw a pay increase of 9 per cent in 2009 and 2010. In Malaysia, the increase was 17 per cent in 2009 and 3 per cent in 2010. Indonesian NEDs observed an increase of 13 per cent in 2009 and 10 per cent in 2010 and in Thailand, the increase remained steady at 14 per cent in 2009 and 2010.

The report, Non-executive directors in ASEAN: Pay practices, responsibilities and policies, is based on an analysis on data collected from 200 large companies in the four ASEAN countries from 2008 to 2010.