On January 28, 2020, Korea Corporate Governance Service(KCGS)
held an ESG Rating Committee meeting and downgraded the
Environmental(E), Social(S), and Governance(G) grades of 19 companies.
The negative adjustments are based on the added ESG risk identified
after the 2019 regular rating activity. KCGS’s ESG grades, both
individual and integrated, include S, A+, A, B+, B, C, and D. Previously
in October 2019, KCGS held a ESG Rating Committee meeting to assign
E·S·G grades to 875 listed firms and G grades for 48 non-listed financial
companies.
In the Q1 2020 adjustment, one company saw its E grade drop due to
added E risk, and ten and eight companies saw their S and G grade
downgraded, respectively. Due to the adjustment of the individual E·S·G
grades, seven firms saw their ESG integrated grade drop by one notch.
For enhanced timeliness of its ESG rating, KCGS raised the adjustment
frequency from semi-annually to quarterly. Through the sophistication of the
rating system, KCGS will continue its endeavor to help domestic firms enhance
their ESG practices and raise awareness of sustainability on the part of the
market and firms. Further adjustments will follow in April and July.
Appendix: Summary of Q1 2020 ESG Rating Adjustment