ISB Holds a Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

ISB Holds a Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

First Session

The first session on "Are there any special issues in corporate governance in emerging markets?" was moderated by Franklin Allen, (Wharton School). He set the agenda in motion by asking the panel to debate if the Anglo-Saxon model of corporate governance was the right one for emerging markets.

T. V. Mohandas Pai, Director - Human Resources, Infosys, held that at the heart of every market, there was an individual who was driven by the dominating emotions of grief and sorrow. While culture and values are the drivers for good governance, "I would prefer codes coming in the forefront, and law coming in slightly afterwards," he said. Later, while replying to a question raised by a member of the audience, he said, "Transparency is a competitive advantage. Think about it in terms of strategy; it draws the trust and confidence of investors."

J. Ravichandran, Director - F&L, NSEIL, said that for good corporate governance, companies needed help from both within and from outside the company. He advocated the need for more awards to improve corporate governance culture and also have a stipulation for a rating akin to the CRISIL rating.

T. J. Wong, Director - Centre for Institutions and Governance, City University of Hong Kong, spoke about how public governance affected corporate governance. He shared research findings of East Asian companies to corroborate "the inseparability between Business and Politics".

Second Session

The moderator for the second session was Bhagwan Chowdhry (UCLA; Director - Center for International Business and Economics Research). The topic was "What is the role of institutional investors in corporate governance?"

Sanjiv Bhasin, MD & CEO, Rabo Bank, defined Institutional investors as mutual funds, hedge funds and investment managers, and highlighted investor concerns on corporate governance. He explained several case studies where institutional investors had a major impact on corporate governance within a company. He advocated separation of ownership and control, maintenance of strict adherence to accounting standards, proper regulatory framework, control over management and high liquidity.

Next

Contributed by -
Ms. Bhuvana Ramalingam,
Director - Communications,
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

MBA Alumni \| MBA Students \| MBA Aspirants \| MBA Forums