Kamath stresses on governance, regulatory roles

K V Kamath, managing director & CEO, ICICI Bank, and chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's corporate governance council, stressed the importance of corporate governance and the role of the regulators at CII's national council meeting here on Saturday.

He said that it would not be out of context to examine the role of independent directors and define the term "independent directors," according to a CII press release.

During the ensuing discussions it was also pointed out that corporate governance should not be viewed as a promoter versus minority shareholder issue.

Ultimately, corporate governance is all about acting in the best interests of the company. In other words, what is good for the company in the long run is good for the shareholder.

One point that came up was that rules apart, abiding by the spirit of corporate governance was more important as it is possible to violate every single law yet stay within the law. From a macro perspective it was also pointed out that a holistic view of corporate governance should be taken which would also include political accountability.

CII president Sunil Kant Munjal said that CII had recently launched the National Foundation for Corporate Governance (NFCG) which would set standards for corporate governance in the country. With the managements of companies coming under increasing scrutiny from both shareholders and institutional investors, the importance of corporate governance cannot be understated, he said.

"An independent database of suitable candidates is being compiled and will be put up on the website of NFCG shortly. Applications have already started coming in and conferences and seminars are being scheduled across the country to propagate this concept and to attract suitably qualified people" said C Banerjee, executive director, National Foundation for Corporate Governance (NFCG), said.