Govt to urge judicial service to include corporate governance in module
Monday, 3 September 2007
The government is likely to request the judicial service to include corporate governance in their training module to derive optimum result from it, reports UNB.
Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said Sunday he would take the initiative to pursue the matter with the judicial service.
"The judiciary of the country is not attuned with the corporate governance," he said speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the two-day South Asian Conference on Corporate Governance at Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) conference room.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Faruk Ahmad Siddiqi was the special guest at the session, chaired by BEI president Farooq Sobhan.
Aziz said any violation of the corporate governance has failed to get proper attention from the judges for lack of proper knowledge among the judiciary on the subject.
"I feel, I've to pursue the matter with the judicial service to include corporate governance in their training module," he added.
The adviser asked the shareholders and consumers to remain alert about the compliance of the corporate governance in the corporate houses to get better services.
The SEC chairman said the capital market of the country is at the initial stage of development. Corporate sector and capital market development are dependent on each other and, perhaps, good corporate practice is essential for both.
He emphasised on the audit independence and avoidance of conflict of interest, full disclosure of the company affairs in their annual reports, more efficient internal control, better management, ensuring a corporate environment, and more efficient, informed, independent and dedicated board of directors.
The SEC chief underscored restructuring and strengthening of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms for proper supervision of the registered companies.
Quoting a survey, he said that 31.18 per cent listed companies have fully complied with the provisions of SEC's corporate governance guidelines and 56.66 per cent of the listed companies have partially complied with those guidelines.
He expressed the hope that the remaining 12.16 per cent companies, which failed to follow the guidelines, would practice the corporate governance principles in their own interest.
BEI is organising the two-day conference as their initiative to strengthen corporate governance and share best practices in this region. Experts from India and Pakistan are also attending the conference.
The key objectives of the conference are to help strengthen corporate governance and promote responsible business practices in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and to share best practices in the region, which can be documented and further developed into case studies.
A policy paper outlining specific recommendations on corporate governance for the region, and documented case studies, to be used by academics and training institutions, are expected to emerge from the conference.
Resource persons at the conference are: Mohammad Farashuddin (former Bangladesh Bank Governor), Anis A Khan (CEO & Managing Director of IDLC Finance Limited), Barrister Sheela R Rahman (Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed and Associates), R Krishnan (Managing Director and President of Associated Vat Recovery Consultants Pvt. Ltd, India), NK Jain (Secretary & CEO of Institute of Company Secretaries of India), Asad Ali Shah (Senior Partner of Deloitte & Touche of Pakistan and Vice President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan), Arif Zaman (Senior Adviser of South Asia and Corporate Governance, Commonwealth Business Council), Jaweria Haisum (CG Specialist of the State Bank of Pakistan), Mamun Rashid (CEO of Citibank NA, Bangladesh), S Manzer Hossain (Resident Director of Tata Group) and Samir Asaf (Group CEO of Rahimafrooz (Bangladesh) Limited).
Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said Sunday he would take the initiative to pursue the matter with the judicial service.
"The judiciary of the country is not attuned with the corporate governance," he said speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the two-day South Asian Conference on Corporate Governance at Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) conference room.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Faruk Ahmad Siddiqi was the special guest at the session, chaired by BEI president Farooq Sobhan.
Aziz said any violation of the corporate governance has failed to get proper attention from the judges for lack of proper knowledge among the judiciary on the subject.
"I feel, I've to pursue the matter with the judicial service to include corporate governance in their training module," he added.
The adviser asked the shareholders and consumers to remain alert about the compliance of the corporate governance in the corporate houses to get better services.
The SEC chairman said the capital market of the country is at the initial stage of development. Corporate sector and capital market development are dependent on each other and, perhaps, good corporate practice is essential for both.
He emphasised on the audit independence and avoidance of conflict of interest, full disclosure of the company affairs in their annual reports, more efficient internal control, better management, ensuring a corporate environment, and more efficient, informed, independent and dedicated board of directors.
The SEC chief underscored restructuring and strengthening of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms for proper supervision of the registered companies.
Quoting a survey, he said that 31.18 per cent listed companies have fully complied with the provisions of SEC's corporate governance guidelines and 56.66 per cent of the listed companies have partially complied with those guidelines.
He expressed the hope that the remaining 12.16 per cent companies, which failed to follow the guidelines, would practice the corporate governance principles in their own interest.
BEI is organising the two-day conference as their initiative to strengthen corporate governance and share best practices in this region. Experts from India and Pakistan are also attending the conference.
The key objectives of the conference are to help strengthen corporate governance and promote responsible business practices in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and to share best practices in the region, which can be documented and further developed into case studies.
A policy paper outlining specific recommendations on corporate governance for the region, and documented case studies, to be used by academics and training institutions, are expected to emerge from the conference.
Resource persons at the conference are: Mohammad Farashuddin (former Bangladesh Bank Governor), Anis A Khan (CEO & Managing Director of IDLC Finance Limited), Barrister Sheela R Rahman (Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed and Associates), R Krishnan (Managing Director and President of Associated Vat Recovery Consultants Pvt. Ltd, India), NK Jain (Secretary & CEO of Institute of Company Secretaries of India), Asad Ali Shah (Senior Partner of Deloitte & Touche of Pakistan and Vice President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan), Arif Zaman (Senior Adviser of South Asia and Corporate Governance, Commonwealth Business Council), Jaweria Haisum (CG Specialist of the State Bank of Pakistan), Mamun Rashid (CEO of Citibank NA, Bangladesh), S Manzer Hossain (Resident Director of Tata Group) and Samir Asaf (Group CEO of Rahimafrooz (Bangladesh) Limited).