HKQAA Sustainability Rating and Research
Media Watch
IntroductionMedia Watch (MW) is an integral component of the HKQAA SRR scoring. MW is an on-going monitoring mechanism to identify the media commentaries and other publicly available information that may have a damaging effect on the companies’ reputation and core business.
Sources of MW
The AT shall review the following media channels to assign the MW Flag when necessary:
- Announcement from the company;
- HK major newspaper or journal;
- Governments; and
- Others
MW Process
An MW “Flag” is created if a company has been the subject of a specific allegation that can harm its reputation, resulting in financial consequences ranging from lost business, lost customers and declining sales, to liabilities, litigation or fines.
A specific discount rate assigned to the MW subject will vary by criterion and by industry, depending on the materiality of the potential impact on the company.
The 3-colour flagging system is applied and may affect the company scoring to various extents. The following is a detailed description of how it works: