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PROJECT REPORT

ON

ETHICS IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE


MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(2008-2010)

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mrs. SHAVINA GOYAL HARDEEP SHARMA

Lect.(SMS) MBA-II(SEM-III)

Roll No. 3832 (C)

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

PUNJABI UNIVERSITY PATIALA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks to the School of management studies which gave me
such a beautiful opportunity to study on the topic ETHICS IN CORPORATE
GOVRNANCE.

On the submission of my project report I would like to express my sincere gratitude to


Mrs. Shavina Goyal (Lect. SMS, Punjabi University, Patiala) for helping me and
taking active interest throughout the project. She was always available, correcting
mistakes, intelligently directing me to proper sources of information advising to aim
for simplicity, brevity, clarity and accuracy. I am indeed thankful to her for her
valuable guidance.

I would also like to express my thanks to my friends who helped me on every stage.
Without their help the project could not be completed.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1

OVERVIEW 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION 8

CHAPTER-2
ETHICS IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 19
CHAPTER-3

SEBI AND CORPORATE

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE 24

CHAPTER-4

ARTICLES ON CORPORATE

GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS 34

CHAPTER-5

BIBLIOGRAPHY 39

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OVERVIEW

In today’s society, corporate governance is one of the most talked about topics in
business. Most academics, business professionals and lay observers would agree that
it is defined as the general set of customs, regulations, policies and laws that
determine to achieve certain targets for which a firm should be run. It is clear that
corporate governance exists at a complex intersection of law, morality and economic
efficiency, considering that issues of executive compensation, financial scandals and
shareholder activism are all tied up with it. Corporate governance also includes the
relationships among the many stakeholders involved and the goals for which the
corporation is governed. Corporate governance raises some of the key issues like how
much focus should be given to the interests of directors, shareholders, employees and
other stakeholders and how these interests can be expressed, aligned, and reconciled.
Other stakeholders include suppliers, customers, banks and other lenders, regulators,
the environment, and the community. So, corporate governance examines how
corporations are governed and to whom they should be responsible. It is a system of
structuring, operating and controlling a company with a view to achieving long-term
strategic goals to satisfy stakeholders and complying with the legal and regulatory
requirements, apart from meeting environmental and local community needs. An
important aspect of corporate governance is to ensure the accountability of certain
individuals in an organization.

Important issues are the role of the board of directors, re aggregation of shareholder
power due to concentrated institutional holdings and effects of legislation on corporate
governance. In corporations, the shareholder delegates decision rights to the manager
to act in the principal’s best interests. This separation of ownership from control
implies a loss of effective control by shareholders over managerial decisions. Partly, as
a result of this separation between the two parties, a system of corporate governance
controls is implemented to assist in aligning the incentives of managers with those of
shareholders. The board of directors often plays a key role in corporate governance. It
is their responsibility to endorse the organization’s strategy, develop directional policy,
appoint, supervise and remunerate senior executives, and to ensure accountability of

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the organization to its owners and authorities. Similarly, the company secretary,
known as a corporate secretary in the US and often referred to as a chartered
secretary if qualified by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
(ICSA), is a high ranking professional who is trained to uphold the highest standards
of corporate governance, effective operations, compliance and administration.

All parties to corporate governance have an interest, whether direct or indirect, in the
effective performance of the organization. Directors, workers and management receive
salaries, benefits and reputation, while shareholders receive capital return, customers
receive goods and services and suppliers receive compensation for their goods or
services. In return, these individuals provide value in the form of natural, human,
social and other forms of capital.Importance is how directors and management develop
a model of governance that aligns the values of the corporate participants and then
evaluate the model periodically for its effectiveness.

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Executive Summary

Corporate governance is the set of policies, people, laws, regulations and


reporting of corporate business entities. It is a primary focus of regulators in
today’s world. Sound corporate governance brings prosperity to the masses in
the economy by raising investor confidence and proper management of the
investments. Good corporate governance is vital for organizations to survive.
The major components of corporate government are; the Board of Directors, the
Executive Offices, Regulators, Reports, Upper Management, and Company
Policies. The flow of corporate governance comes from the top through the
board, it is moulded into the organization through the CEO and reflected in the
reporting process with transparency. The over all flow is influenced by external
stakeholders. Corporate governance in India is still at the developing stage. The
government has formed an institute of corporate governance which promotes
good corporate practices through various means. Cases of poor corporate
governance can be found around the world. They are mostly connected to
fraudulent practices. The other major malpractices were; irregularities in
accounts, non-compliance with law, nepotism, and exploitation of minority
share holders. The term corporate governance refers to all the activities,
policies, personnel, regulations and reporting which is related to the control of
the company’s actions. Corporate governance is done through all those
individuals who have a controlling influence in a corporation such as creditors
or stock holders. It focuses on reducing principal-agent problems and
undermines stakeholders view in company operations. Corporate governance is
at the centre of attention in today’s business world. This is greatly due to the
large number of stakeholders whose wealth and interests are at stake in the
business. What has further highlighted corporate governance today has been
the increasing influence and awareness of these stake holders. With out sound
corporate governance a business cannot survive. Corporate governance is not
just related to core business activities. Good corporate governance caters to

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various other issues present in the society. Corporations today have developed
a concept of corporate social responsibility. The major components of corporate
governance comprise of company policies, Board of Directors, the role of the
CEO, creditors, Stockholders, regulators, reporting and maintaining overall
transparency about the business operations Corporate governance can be both
good and bad. The Securities and Exchange Commission try’s to ensure that
sound corporate governance is maintained in all businesses by regulating
corporations. Further business expansion is also dependent on sound
corporate governance.

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CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ETHICS

Ethics refers to a system of moral principles a sense of right and wrong, and
goodness and badness of actions and the motives and consequences of these
actions. As applied to business firms, ethics is the study of good and evils,
right and wrong and just and unjust actions of businessmen. Ethics is a body
of principles or standards of human conduct that govern the behavior of
individuals and groups. Ethics arise not simply from man's creation but from
human nature itself making it a natural body of laws from which man's laws
follow. Ethics is a branch of philosophy and is considered a normative science
because it is concerned with the norms of human conduct, as distinguished
from formal sciences such as mathematics and logic, physical sciences such as
chemistry and physics, and empirical sciences such as economics and
psychology.

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Ethics is seen as an individual’s own personal attitude and a believe
concerning what is right or wrong, good or bad. It is important to note that
ethics reside within individuals and that organization doesn’t have ethics.
People have ethics. Consequently, its definition and understanding varies from
person to person. These are not absolute, but are relative. Ethical behaviors
are in the eye of beholder. What is right or wrong is a personal individual
matter, but is still influenced by socially accepted norms. Right, and proper
and fair are the ethical terms. It expresses a judgment about behavior towards
people they felt to be just. Ethics are useful tools for sorting out the good and
bad components within complex human interactions. Business ethics does not
differ from generally accepted norms of good or bad practices. If dishonesty is
considers to be unethical and immoral in the society, then any business man
who is dishonest his or her employees, customer’s shareholders, or competitors
is unethical and immoral person. Businessmen should not try to evolve their
own principles to justify ‘what is right and what is wrong’. Ethics refers to
accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the
members of a profession, or the actions of an organization. Business Ethics are
the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of business
people. Ethical decisions are those that are in accordance with those accepted
principles of right and wrong, whereas and unethical decision in one that
violates accepted principles. This is not as straightforward as it sounds
Managers may face ethical dilemmas, which are situations where there is no
agreement over exactly what the accepted principles of right and wrong are, or
where none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable

THE MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS ETHICS

 No discrimination should be done on the basis of caste ,color , and


religion,
 The polices should be fair and transparent

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 Proper provision of safety should be provided by the company to the
employees.
 There should be proper honesty, loyalty, and integrity in the employees.
 The company’s resources should not be utilized by the employees for
their personal usage.
 Company should provide better environment condition Information about
employee’s personal lives, health, and work evaluations should be kept
confidential.
 Regular measurement of employee satisfaction should by company.
 To neither give nor take any illegal payment, remuneration, gift,
donation, or comparable, benefits to obtain business or favors.
 To comply with all regulations regarding preservation of the environment.
 Employee should report to management any actual or possible violation
of code or an event that could affect the business or reputation of the
employee’s company.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Good corporate governance is key to the integrity of corporations, financial
institutions and markets, and central to the health of our economies and their
stability. Corporate governance has become talk of the day in the corporate
world, especially when there is financial crisis originated in the U.S.A. and
some other countries due to poor governance of financial institutions.
Therefore, now days corporate governance which is a mechanism to mitigate
the clash of interests among the stakeholders of a corporation, has achieved
further focus from regulatory groups. Corporate governance is concerned with
the resolution of collective action problems among dispersed investors and the
reconciliation of conflicts of interest between various corporate claimholders.
Corporate governance refers to the broad range of policies and practices that
stockholders, executive managers, and boards of directors use to (1) manage
themselves and (2) fulfill their responsibilities to investors and other

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stakeholders. Over the past decade, corporate governance has been the subject
of increasing stakeholder attention and scrutiny. These concerns have given
rise to a powerful shareholder movement. Shareholder activists, composed
primarily of large multi-billion-dollar pension funds, religious and socially
responsible investment groups, and other institutional investors, are now using
a variety of vehicles to influence board behavior, including creating corporate
governance standards of excellence and filing shareholder resolutions. These
investors are concerned with such topics as board diversity, independence,
compensation, and accountability, as well as a broad range of social issues,
e.g. employment ethics practices, environmental policies, and community
involvement.

The tug of war between individual freedom and institutional power is a


continuing theme of history. Early on, the focus was on the church; more
recently, it is was on the civil state. Today, the debate is about making
corporate power compatible with the needs of a democratic society. The modern
corporation has not only created untold wealth and given individuals the
opportunity to express their genius and develop their talents but also has
imposed costs on individuals and society. How to encourage the liberation of

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individual energy without inflicting unacceptable costs on individuals and
society, therefore, has emerged as a key challenge.
Corporate governance lies at the heart of this challenge. It deals with the
systems, rules, and processes by which corporate activity is directed. Narrow
definitions focus on the relationships between corporate managers, a
company’s board of directors, and its shareholders. Broader descriptions
encompass the relationship of the corporation to all of its stakeholders and
society, and cover the sets of laws, regulations, listing rules, and voluntary
private-sector practices that enable corporations to attract capital, perform
efficiently, generate profit, and meet both legal obligations and general societal
expectations. The wide variety of definitions and descriptions that have been
advanced over the years also reflect their origin: lawyers tend to focus on the
contractual and fiduciary aspects of the governance function; finance scholars
and economists think about decision-making objectives, the potential for
conflict of interest, and the alignment of incentives, while management
consultants tend to adopt a more task-oriented or behavioral perspective.
Complicating matters, different definitions also reflect two fundamentally
different views about a corporation’s purpose and responsibilities. Often
referred to as the “shareholder versus stakeholder” perspectives, they define a
debate about whether managers should run a corporation primarily or solely in
the interests of its legal owners—the shareholders (the shareholder
perspective)—or whether they should actively concern themselves with the
needs of other constituencies (the stakeholder perspective). This question is
answered differently in different parts of the world. In Continental Europe and
Asia, for example, managers and boards are expected to concern themselves
with the interests of employees and the other stakeholders, such as suppliers,
creditors, tax authorities, and the communities in which they operate.
Reflecting this perspective, the Centre of European Policy Studies (CEPS)
defines corporate governance as “the whole system of rights, processes and
controls established internally and externally over the management of a
business entity with the objective of protecting the interests of all stakeholders.
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In contrast, the Anglo-American approach to corporate governance emphasizes
the primacy of ownership and property rights and is primarily focused on
creating “shareholder” value. In this view, employees, suppliers, and other
creditors have rights in the form of contractual claims on the company, but as
owners with property rights, shareholders come first:
Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and
controlled. Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their
companies. The shareholders’ role in governance is to appoint the directors and
the auditors and to satisfy themselves that an appropriate governance
structure is in place.
Perhaps the broadest, and most neutral, definition is provided by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an
international organization that brings together the governments of countries
committed to democracy and the market economy to support sustainable
economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial
stability, assist other countries’ economic development, and contribute to
growth in world trade:
Corporate governance is the system by which business corporations are
directed and controlled. The corporate governance structure specifies the
distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the
corporation, such as, the board, managers, shareholders and other
stakeholders, and spells out the rules and procedures for making decisions on
corporate affairs. By doing this, it also provides the structure through which
the company objectives are set, and the means of attaining those objectives
and monitoring performance In today’s society, corporate governance is one of
the most talked about topics in business. Most academics, business
professionals and lay observers would agree that it is defined as the general set
of customs, regulations, policies and laws that determine to achieve certain
targets for which a firm should be run. It is clear that corporate governance
exists at a complex intersection of law, morality and economic efficiency,
considering that issues of executive compensation, financial scandals and
14
shareholder activism are all tied up with it. Corporate governance also includes
the relationships among the many stakeholders involved and the goals for
which the corporation is governed. Corporate governance raises some of the
key issues like how much focus should be given to the interests of directors,
shareholders, employees and other stakeholders and how these interests can
be expressed, aligned, and reconciled. Other stakeholders include suppliers,
customers, banks and other lenders, regulators, the environment, and the
community. So, corporate governance examines how corporations are governed
and to whom they should be responsible. It is a system of structuring,
operating and controlling a company with a view to achieving long-term
strategic goals to satisfy stakeholders and complying with the legal and
regulatory requirements, apart from meeting environmental and local
community needs. An important aspect of corporate governance is to ensure
the accountability of certain individuals in an organization. The important
issues are the role of the board of directors, re aggregation of shareholder
power due to concentrated institutional holdings and effects of legislation on
corporate governance. In corporations, the shareholder delegates decision
rights to the manager to act in the principal’s best interests. This separation of
ownership from control implies a loss of effective control by shareholders over
managerial decisions. Partly, as a result of this separation between the two
parties, a system of corporate governance controls is implemented to assist in
aligning the incentives of managers with those of shareholders. The board of
directors often plays a key role in corporate governance. It is their
responsibility to endorse the organization’s strategy, develop directional policy,
appoint, supervise and remunerate senior executives, and to ensure
accountability of the organization to its owners and authorities. Similarly, the
company secretary, known as a corporate secretary in the US and often
referred to as a chartered secretary if qualified by the Institute of Chartered
Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), is a high ranking professional who is
trained to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance, effective
operations, compliance and administration.
15
All parties to corporate governance have an interest, whether direct or indirect,
in the effective performance of the organization. Directors, workers and
management receive salaries, benefits and reputation, while shareholders
receive capital return, customers receive goods and services and suppliers
receive compensation for their goods or services. In return, these individuals
provide value in the form of natural, human, social and other forms of capital.
Of importance is how directors and management develop a model of
governance that aligns the values of the corporate participants and then
evaluate the model periodically for its effectiveness.

Components of corporate governance

Corporate governance is not just related to human elements. As mentioned


earlier, it comprises of all the policies, practices, activities, individuals and
stakeholders of the business. The Major components of corporate governance
could be stated as:
· The Board of Directors
· The Upper Management
· The Stock holders
· The Regulators and other Stakeholder institutions
· Reporting
· Company Policy
· Company Activity
· The CEO, Company Secretary, and CFO
· Meetings

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Why Good corporate governance is a question of ethics?

The phrases "Socially Responsible", "Corporate 'Social Responsibility", and "The


Social Responsibility of Business" are at times used as though they were
synonymous with business ethics. But this can be misleading if it is taken to
imply that business ethics deals exclusively with the relationships between
business organizations and what have come to be called their" external
constituencies such as customers, suppliers, government agency , community
groups and even host countries. For while these relationship define a large and
very important sub-domain of business ethics, they do not exhaust the field,
there remain equally important "internal constituencies" (employees,
stockholders, boards of directors and senior executives) as well as ethical
issues that do not lend them- selves to "constituency" or stakeholder analysis.
Thus, business ethics is a more embracing field of inquiry than corporate social
responsibility, even though it includes the latter. Questions, like moral
responsibilities, obligations and virtues in business decision making also form
part of ethics e.g. choices and character of persons, the policies and cultures of
organization.

The subject of business ethics, therefore, is multi-leveled. At the level of the


individual ("the ethics and values of business person"), attention is paid to the
values by which self-interest and other motives are balanced by concern for
fairness, properness, right / wrong and the common good, both within and
outside the company. At the level of the organization ("the ethics of a business
enterprise"), the focus is on the spoken or unspoken group consciousness that
every company has either by design or by default, as it pursues its economic
objectives. Finally, at the level of society itself (" the ethics of business system"),
business ethics examines the pattern of cultural, political and economic forces
that drive individuals and firm's values that define democratic capitalism in a
global environment.

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The ethics of Corporate Governance is therefore; the determination of what is
"right", "fair", "proper" and "just" in decisions and actions that affect other
people go for beyond simple questions of bribery, theft and collusion. It focus
on what our relationships are and ought to be - with our employees, our
customers, our stock holders, our creditors, our suppliers, our distributors,
our neighbors and other members of the community / society in which we
operate.

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CHAPTER-2
ETHICS IN CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE

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ETHICS IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate governance is about ethical conduct in business. Ethics is concerned


with the code of values and principles that enables a person to choose between
right and wrong, and therefore, select from alternative courses of action.
Further, ethical dilemmas arise from conflicting interests of the parties
involved. In this regard, managers make decisions based on a set of principles
influenced by the values, context and culture of the organization. Ethical
leadership is good for business as the organization is seen to conduct its
business in line with the expectations of all stakeholders. What constitutes
good Corporate Governance will evolve with the changing circumstances of a
company and must be tailored to meet these circumstances. There is therefore
no one single model of Corporate Governance. I do feel it is necessary to trace
the evolution of the concept for better comprehension. Economic and
Commercial activities the world over grew manifold after the Bretton Woods
and formation of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Cross
border trades and exchange rate mechanisms resulted in specialization within
financial market. Several players in the field, International commerce and
settlements grew manifold giving rise to standards and benchmarks. ISO 9000
and International best accounting practices are the culmination of the
experience of the stakeholders in different fields of economics and commerce,
the policymakers included. As I see it, Corporate Governance is nothing but the
moral or ethical or value framework under which corporate decisions are taken.
It is quite possible that in the effort at arriving the best possible financial
results or business results there could be attempts at doing things which are
verging on the illegal or even illegal. There is also the possibility of grey areas
where an act is not illegal but considered unethical. These raise moral issues.
In fact, the very definition of corporate governance stems from its organic link
with the entire gamut of activities having a direct or indirect influence on the
financial health of corporate entities. The Cadbury Report (1992) simply

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describes Corporate Governance as ‘the system by which companies are
directed and controlled’. So far as corporate governance is concerned, it is
financial integrity that assumes tremendous importance. This would mean that
the directors and all concerned should be open and straight/forthright about
issues where there is conflict of interest involved in financial decision making.
When it comes to even the purchase/procurement procedures, there is need for
greater transparency.

The Corporate system and diverse ownership did contribute in a substantial


measure to prosperity, employment potential and living standards of the
subjects across the globe. Notwithstanding the contributions, the failures too
caused concerns among the regulators. Existing laws, rules and controls did
not adequately address the issues related to the failures caused by deficient or
intentional fraudulent managements. In USA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002
was passed to address the issues associated with corporate failures, achieve
quality governance and restoring ‘investor’ confidence. The Securities and
Exchange Commission of USA initiated action against multinational accounting
firms for failure to detect blatant violation of accounting standards, and
penalties running to several million dollars were recovered, from certain
multinational consultancy firms.

Why Corporate Governance?


a) The liberalization and de-regulation world over gave greater freedom in
management. This would imply greater responsibilities.
b) The players in the field are many. Competition brings in its wake weakness
in standards of reporting and accountability.
c) Market conditions are increasingly becoming complex in the light of global
developments like WTO, removal of barriers/reduction in duties.

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d) The failure of corporate due to lack of transparency and disclosures and
instances of falsification of accounts/embezzlement and the effect of such
undesirable practices in other companies.

It is the increasing role of foreign institutional investors in emerging economies


that has made the concept of corporate governance a relevant issue today. In
fact, the expression was hardly in the public domain. In the increasingly close
interaction of the economies of different countries lies the process of
globalization. This involves the rapid migration of four elements across national
borders. These are (i) Physical capital in terms of plant and machinery; (ii)
Financial capital; (iii) Technology; and (iv) Labor.

The increasing concern of the foreign investors is that the enterprise in which
they invest should not only be effectively managed but should also observe the
principles of corporate governance. In other words, the enterprises will not do
anything illegal or unethical. This need for re-assurance is felt by the FIIs due
to the fact that there have been cases of dramatic collapse of enterprises which
were apparently doing well but which were not observing the principles of
corporate governance.

In India corruption is an all embracing phenomenon. In this, if the respective


players in the field were to adopt healthy principles of good corporate
governance and avoid corruption in their transactions, India could really take a
step forward to becoming a less corrupt country and improving its rank in the
Corruption Perception Index listed by the Transparency International.

Studies in India and abroad show that markets and investors take notice of
well managed companies, respond positively to them and reward such
companies with higher valuations. A common feature is that they have systems
in place, which allow sufficient freedom to Board and Management to take
decisions towards progress and to innovate, while remaining within the
framework of effective accountability. In other words they have a good system
22
of corporate governance. Strong corporate governance is indispensable to
resilient and vibrant capital markets and is an important instrument of
investor protection.

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CHAPTER-3

SEBI AND CORPORATE


GOVERNANCE COMMITEE

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SEBI AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITEE

Securities and Exchange Board of India constituted a Committee on Corporate


Governance under the Chairmanship of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla. The
committee observed that there are companies, which have set high standards
of governance while there are many more whose practices are matters of
concern. There is increasing concern about standards of financial reporting
and accountability especially after losses are suffered by investors and leaders
in the recent past, which could have been avoided with better and more
transparent reporting practices. Companies raise capital from market and
investors suffered due to unscrupulous managements that performed much
worse than past reported figures. Bad governance was also exemplified by
allotment of promoters’ share at preferential prices disproportionate to market
value, affecting minority holders’ interests. Many corporate did not pay heed to
investors’ grievances. While there were enough rules and regulations to take
care of grievances, yet the inadequate implementation and the absence of
severe penalty, left much to be desired.

The Kumar Mangalam Committee made mandatory and non-mandatory


recommendations. Based on the recommendations of this Committee, a new
clause 49 was incorporated in the Stock Exchange Listing

Agreements (“Listing Agreements”). The important aspects, in brief, are:

(i) Board of Directors are accountable to shareholders.

(ii) Board controls are laid down code of conduct and accountable to
shareholders for creating, protecting and enhancing wealth and resources of
the Company reporting promptly in transparent manner while not involving in
day to day management.

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(iii) Classification of non-executive directors into those who are independent
and those who are not.

(iv) Independent directors not to have material or pecuniary relations with the
Company/subsidiaries and if had, to disclose in Annual Report.

(v) Laying emphasis on caliber of non-executive directors especially


independent directors.

(vi) Sufficient compensation package to attract talented non-executive


directors.

(vii) Optimum combination of not less than 50% of non-executive directors and
of which companies with non-executive Chairman to have at least one third of
independent directors and under executive Chairman at least one half of
independent directors.

(viii) Nominee directors to be treated on par with any other director,

(ix) Qualified independent Audit committee to be setup with minimum of three


all being non-executive directors with one having financial and accounting
knowledge.

(x) Corporate governance report to be part of Annual Report and disclosure on


directors’ remuneration etc., to be included.

Naresh Chandra Committee recommendations relate to the Auditor-Company


relationship and the role of Auditors. Report of the SEBI Committee on
Corporate Governance recommended that the mandatory recommendations on
matters of disclosure of contingent liabilities, CEO/CFO Certification, definition
of Independent Director, independence of Audit Committee and independent
director exemptions in the report of the Naresh Chandra Committee, relating to
corporate governance, be implemented by SEBI.

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Narayana Murthy Committee recommendations include role of Audit
Committee, Related party transactions, Risk management, compensation to
Non- Executive Directors, Whistle Blower Policy, Affairs of Subsidiary
Companies, Analyst Reports and other non-mandatory recommendations.
When it comes to corporate governance, I think we will have to look at the
hardware as well as the software aspect. So far as the software aspect is
concerned, I would suggest, it depends on the values cherished and practiced
by the members of the Board of Directors as well as the management of an
organization. It is always possible to mouth very high principles but act in a
very lowly manner. If there is going to be divergence between practice and
precept, then we are not going to achieve good corporate governance. This is
the first point to be realized.

The most important aspect for observing corporate governance is the top
management, particularly the board of directors and the senior level
management of an enterprise - walking their talk. It is by walking their talk
that the top management can earn credibility. This also has a direct bearing on
the morale of an organization.

When it comes to the hardware aspect of corporate governance, we go into the


issue of a code, which becomes a reference point for behavior. But the sad
faction our country is that even though there is a lot of talk about corporate
governance, when it comes to reality, nothing much happens.

With the SEBI trying to bring some discipline in the stock market especially in
terms of greater transparency and disclosure norms, corporate governance in
the Indian context at least seems to focus primarily and rightly on the issue of
transparency. It is lack of transparency that leads to corrupt or illegal behavior.
If corporate governance is concerned with better ethics and principles, it is only
natural that the focus should be on transparency. But how is this
transparency to be achieved? One method of course is the code. Another would
be the regulatory authorities like SEBI, RBI etc. laying down guidelines so that

27
a certain degree of transparency is automatically ensured. Another legal
approach to achieve better corporate governance may be to look at the whole
issue of bringing the corporate sector under the discipline of debt and equity.
Perhaps amendment of the Companies Act and bringing in this discipline will
also help in automatically ensuring better ethics and corporate governance.

Perhaps the most important challenge we face towards better corporate


governance is the mindset of the people and the organizational culture. This
change will have to come from within. The government or the regulatory
agencies at best can provide certain environment, which will be conducive for
such a mindset taking place, but the primary responsibility, is of the people
especially the members of the board of directors and the top management.

Another important aspect is to realize that ultimately the spirit of corporate


governance is more important than the form. Substance is more important
than style. Values are the essence of corporate governance and these will have
to be clearly articulated and systems and procedures devised, so that these
values are practiced.

We then come to a common moral problem in running enterprises. One can


have practices which are legal but which are unethical. In fact, many a time,
tax planning exercises may border on the fine razor’s edge between the strictly
legal and the patently unethical. A clear understanding of the fundamental
values which govern corporate governance and their explicit articulation in a
proper code backed by well established structures and traditions like the ethics
committee and audit committee may be the best insurance for good corporate
governance under the circumstances.

Corporate governance and ethical behavior have a number of advantages.


Firstly, they help to build good brand image for the company. Once there is a
brand image, there is greater loyalty, once there is greater loyalty, there is
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greater commitment to the employees, and when there is a commitment to
employees, the employees will become more creative. In the current competitive
environment, creativity is vital to get a competitive edge.

10 Essential Governance Principles

A company should:

1. Lay solid foundations for management and oversight


- Recognize and publish the respective roles and responsibilities of board
and management.
* 2. Structure the board to add value
- Have a board of an effective composition, size and commitment to
adequately discharge its responsibilities and duties.
* 3. Promote ethical and responsible decision-making
- Actively promote ethical and responsible decision-making.
* 4. Safeguard integrity in financial reporting
- Have a structure to independently verify and safeguard the integrity of
the company’s financial reporting.
* 5. Make timely and balanced disclosure
- Promote timely and balanced disclosure of all material matters
concerning the company.
* 6. Respect the rights of shareholders
- Respect the rights of shareholders and facilitate the effective exercise of
those rights.
* 7. Recognize and manage risk
- Establish a sound system of risk oversight and management and
internal control.
* 8. Encourage enhanced performance

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- Fairly review and actively encourage enhanced board and management
effectiveness.
* 9. Remunerate fairly and responsibly
- Ensure that the level and composition of remuneration is sufficient and
reasonable and that its relationship to corporate and individual
performance is defined.
* 10. Recognize the legitimate interests of stakeholders
- Recognize legal and other obligations to all legitimate stakeholders.
* 11. Corporate Governance Rating be made mandatory for listed companies.

Openness, integrity and accountability are the key elements of Corporate


Governance for any corporate entity. These factors assume greater importance
in case of Public Sector Banks. It is, therefore, necessary that the Board of
Directors, external auditors and supervisors of bank strive to achieve greater
degree of openness, transparency, integrity and accountability in the working
of the institution.

Banks deal in trust. If trust is in suspicion, damaged or lost, the resulting


financial loss cannot measure the true risk. Trust being the foundation of
banking, the discussion over applicability of good governance has really been a
non-issue. Good governance and practices are synonymous to banking, banks
and bankers. The essence of Corporate Governance is a framework of effective
accountability to all stakeholders. Corporate Governance is an instrument for
benefiting all stakeholders of a corporate entity. In its widest sense, Corporate
Governance is almost akin to a trusteeship. It is about creating an
outperforming organization, which leads to increasing customer satisfaction
and shareholder value.

A code for corporate governance for public sector banks in India could be in the
form of a set of prescriptions and proscriptions for the key decision makers of a
bank -I its Chairman, Executive and non-Executive Directors, institutional
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investors and external auditors. Such a code, it is believed, would enable the
Boards of the banks to resolve conflict of interests between shareholders,
customers, employees and other stakeholders. An informed debate on the issue
of contemporary banking in the board rooms would help develop the vision to
imagine crises and the will to act pre-emotively.

In a deregulated milieu, the Public Sector Banks are bound to demand, and
rightly so, greater functional autonomy for flexibility in decision making. Such
autonomy, however, needs to be accompanied by greater accountability on the
part of their Boards to the stakeholders. A Code of Corporate Governance could
be an effective instrument for achieving this goal.

The Reserve Bank of India has set up various working groups to evaluate its
existing corporate governance norms for banks. The Khan Working Group
Report, though it did not deal with corporate governance per se, recommended
full operational autonomy and flexibility to the management and boards of
banks. The Narasimham Committee I recommended a gradual progress
towards BIS norms and suggested the ending of the dual control over the
sector by the RBI and the Ministry of Finance. The Narasimham Committee II
(1998) recommended reducing government control and strengthening of
internal controls. Additionally, Dr. Patil Advisory Group and Varma Group have
made recommendations on international best practices of Corporate
Governance for banking companies.

The report of the Consultative Group of Directors of Banks/Financial


Institutions – chaired by A.S. Ganguly – has tackled the issues of ethics,
transparency and corporate governance. It has focused on more fundamental
issues like the supervisory role of boards of banks and financial institutions
and functioning of the boards vis-à-vis compliance, transparency, disclosures,
audit Committees etc. A governance framework must include effective systems
of Control and Accountability, and above all responsible attitudes on the part
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of those handling public money. It is important that the drive to provide
improved services at reduced costs should be maintained and that this drive
should not be stifled. At such time it is even more essential to maintain
honesty in the spending of public money and to ensure that the traditional
public sector values are not neglected in the effort to maximize economy and
efficiency.

Ethics in managing an organization are vital for long term survival. It is defined
as disciplined dealing with what is good and what is bad and what are moral
duties and obligations. As far as business ethics are concerned, a minimum
code of ethics has to be practiced in competition, public relations and social
responsibilities. Corporate Governance encourages ethical standards and
sound business practices.

Corporate governance extends beyond corporate law. Its objective is not mere
fulfillment of legal requirements but ensuring commitment on managing
transparently for maximizing shareholder values. As competition increases,
technology pronounces the deal of distance and speeds up communication,
environment also changes. In this dynamic environment the systems of
Corporate Governance also need to evolve, upgrade in time with the rapidly
changing economic and industrial climate of the country.

Finally the key lesson for us to learn are that Regulations and Policies are only
one part of improving governance. Existence of a comprehensive system alone
cannot guarantee ethical pursuit of shareholder’s interest by Directors, officers
and employees. Quality of governance depends upon competence and integrity
of Directors, who have to diligently oversee the management while adhering to
unreachable ethical standards. Strengthened systems and enhanced
transparency can only further the ability. Transparency about a company’s
governance process is critical. Implementing Corporate Governance structures
are Important but instilling the right culture – work culture is Most Essential.
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Corporate Governance in the Public Sector cannot be avoided and for this
reason it must be embraced. But Corporate Governance should be embraced
because it has much to offer to the Public Sector. Good Corporate Governance,
Good Government and Good Business go hand in hand.

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CHAPTER-4
ARTICLES ON CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS

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Business Ethics - A Function of Corporate Governance and Commitment
By Dr. Earl R. Smith

We are living through a period of lax morality and ethics. It almost seems that
Americans have been divided into predator or prey and the society has
descended into a jungle dominated by hunt, kill and eat. Early writers on the
American Revolution suggested that, like a nurturing parent, government’s job
was to arbitrate conflicts in society and keep citizens focused on the ‘better
angles of their nature’. The corporate excesses of the last couple of decades are
a good example of what I mean. The ‘all-for-me’ generation reached its height in
the form of the CEOs and their ‘golden parachutes’. Sarbanes-Oxley was a
reaction to a wide range of corporate finance scandals - of which only a few
were high profile. However, those few high-profile cases were enough elicit a
reaction from Congress in an attempt to address the lack of confidence
investors were showing in corporate America. Several members of corporate
management, corporate finance, several Chairman and CEO’s were caught up
in greed and mismanagement, and some even went to jail because of blatant
misdeeds in carrying out their fiduciary responsibilities to stockholders. Few
people would disagree with punishing wrongdoers bilking millions from
companies and leaving stockholders, holding the bag. Many asked the
question, “is it the government’s responsibility to police corporate America”? In
earlier decades, few of us might have agreed to allow Congress to decide how to
spend our personal budget or how to protect their personal assets. Fewer still

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would have agreed to allow Congress to decide what is ethical and what is not.
However, Sarbanes- Oxley was not about government prerogatives - it was
about law enforcement and protecting society from predators. The so-called
‘free market’ became a jungle in which the predators became richer and the
prey were diminished an extend that threatened the very fabric of society.
Corporate governance is more complex than governing most household
budgets. However, corporate ethics is still about what is right or wrong.
Corporations are not above the laws of society and need to be carefully
monitored – particularly in these days of mega corporations and global finance.
In his farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the rise
in power of the military industrial complex. Well, it rose in power - often
supported by elected officials - and the results were the excess that caused
legislation like SOX to be passed. Now advisory boards and external auditors
operate under regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley. However, the most
stringent regulations cannot overcome corporate ethics and corporate cultures
that encourage or refuse to acknowledge obvious corporate finance
irregularities. The deeper problem lies with the culture of excess that has
grown up within the corporate world - and the attitude that citizens are prey to
be slaughtered and consumed. It is time to develop a new corporate ethics.
Corporate ethics start with the CEO and Chairman. However, it comes into
practice through the directors elected to oversight positions and hold authority
over corporate management. The leadership styles and the integrity of a
company are dependent upon the ethics of the directors and their ability to get
involved in the details of the information they are presented with. The area of
financial review is a hot spot for this kind of activity. Many of the past ethical
lapses have occurred through financial misstatement. Directors need a string
ethical compass. Delving into the details must include:

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· A thorough understanding by all members of the board of directors of the
controls on corporate management
· An unencumbered audit committee
· A transparent relationship between corporate management and the external
auditor
· A transparent relationship between the CEO/Chairman and the external
auditor
· A strong well-trained internal auditor

When the CEO and corporate management understand the expectations of the
board of directors for a thorough and honest assessment of the financial
controls by an independent external auditor and a review of the auditor’s work
by an independent internal audit committee, wrong-doings become less
frequent, and attention to even minor accounting issues become more focused.
Good governance of accounting and corporate finance will safeguard the
integrity of the information generated for the investment community and instill
confidence in the stockholders of the company.
Coaching and constant reinforcement by senior management of line
management regarding corporate ethics will focus attention on the level of
commitment the directors are placing on corporate integrity. Publicly
prosecuting intentional violators of regulations and laws will deter some people
from making an attempt at embezzlement. When wrong-doing or a breakdown
in controls is discovered directors should discuss in private board meetings the
details of the issue and immediately put into place additional needed controls.
The CEO should be charged with instituting the new controls and with publicly
discussing the breakdown and the corporate response with all employees.
When the CEO shows passion and leadership on issues surrounding corporate
ethics, leadership development or the personal growth of the management
team, aggressive measures will be taken at all levels on these issues.
Professional governance must pay attention to all regulations and make sure
compliance management measures are followed. However, only a poor, weak
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management team relies on regulations alone to protect their company’s
integrity and reputation. Boards, CEO’s and Chairmen must demonstrate their
personal commitment to honesty in their business affairs, and must be
prepared to react quickly and decisively when breaches in corporate ethics
occur. In the end, directors - in their fiduciary relationship to the shareholders
are ultimately responsible - and liable - for the actions of the corporation. For
too long it has been thought that the CEO and senior team bore that
responsibility. However, the last couple of decades have shown that ethics are
too important to be trusted to the very people who will benefit by ignoring
them. Directors must step up to that responsibility and force management to
operate within high ethical standards.

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CHAPTER-5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

 Corporate governance and ethics- By Alejo José G. Sison(page 25-


146,177-214)
 Corporate ethics and corporate governance- By Walther Christoph
Zimmerli,Klaus Richter, Markus Holzinger (page 37-54)
 Project governance- By Patrick S. Renz (page 49-218)

Articles in newspapers (Aug01 – jan20)


 The Tribune
 Hindustan Times
 The Hindu
Magazines
 India today
 Business today
Websites
 www.Wikepedia.org
 www.ciena.com
 www.icmrindia.org
 www.ifac.org
 www.globalchange.com

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