Corporate governance is "the system by which companies are directed and controlled" (Cadbury Committee, 1992).

[1] It involves a set of relationships between a companys management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders; it deals with prevention or mitigation of the conflict of interests of stakeholders.[2] Ways of mitigating or preventing these conflicts of interests include the processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions which have impact on the way a company is controlled.[3][4] An important theme of corporate governance is the nature and extent of accountability of people in the business, and mechanisms that try to decrease the principalagent problem.[5] Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the many stakeholders involved and the goals for which the corporation is governed.[6][7] In contemporary business corporations, the main external stakeholder groups are shareholders, debtholders, trade creditors, suppliers, customers and communities affected by the corporation's activities. Internal stakeholders are the board of directors, executives, and other employees. It guarantees that an enterprise is directed and controlled in a responsible, professional, and transparent manner with the purpose of safeguarding its long-term success. It is intended to increase the confidence of shareholders and capitalmarket investors. [8] A related but separate thread of discussions focuses on the impact of a corporate governance system on economic efficiency, with a strong emphasis on shareholders' welfare; this aspect is particularly present in contemporary public debates and

developments in regulatory policy (see regulation and policy regulation).[9] There has been renewed interest in the corporate governance practices of modern corporations since 2001, particularly due to the high-profile collapses of a number of large corporations, most of which involved accounting fraud. Corporate scandals of various forms have maintained public and political interest in the regulation of corporate governance. In the U.S., these include Enron Corporation and MCI Inc. (formerly WorldCom). Their demise is associated with the U.S. federal government passing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, intending to restore public confidence in corporate governance. Comparable failures in Australia (HIH, One.Tel) are associated with the eventual passage of the CLERP 9 reforms. Corporate governance refers to the set of systems, principles and processes by which a company is governed. They provide the guidelines as to how the company can be directed or controlled such that it can fulfil its goals and objectives in a manner that adds to the value of the company and is also beneficial for all stakeholders in the long term. Stakeholders in this case would include everyone ranging from the board of directors, management, shareholders to customers, employees and society. The management of the company hence assumes the role of a trustee for all the others. Corporate Governance is the application of best management practices, Compliance of law in true letter and spirit and adherence to ethical standards for effective management and distribution of wealth and discharge of social responsibility for

sustainable development of all stakeholders. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India