A certified "public interest" nonprofit
In the U.K., it is sometimes said that the company secretary is the conscience of the company. From this it is clear that this is a very established role in the U.K., with greater impact than the U.S. and Japan. Some say that this role should be clearly adopted by statutory auditors in Japan.
From thisreport/survey by theComany Secretarial Services Quality House, one can get a better idea of what company secretaries in the U.K. actually do:
Mary-Hunter McDonnell and Brayden King of the Northwestern University School of Law, and theNorthwestern University School of Management, have produceda very revealing (if predictible) research paper with the above title.
(Conclusion of Working Paper – last page)
Sorry, but I can't resist asking: Feel Sorry for Tokyo Electric Power Co? (A cross-post from http://bit.ly/feNIgN) (Note; tongue firmly in cheek: see my straight post earlier: Institutionalized moral hazard: Fun with Nuclear Power in Japan, or, prepare for a glowing twilight, with scattered fallout in the morning – TT's Lost in Tokyo http://bit.ly/hvvWHU)
The followingentry appeared as part of GovernanceMetrics International’s GMI Blog. GMI is the leading independent provider of global corporate governance and ESG ratings and research. Corporate stakeholders – including leading investors, insurers, auditors, regulators and others – use GovernanceMetrics services to identify and monitor risks related to non-financial measures covering key environmental, social, governance and accounting risk factors.
With this new law, multinationals have even more things to worry about with respect to avoiding actions that could be interpreted as corruption.
China has joined a growing number of countries that are implementing new criminal laws to prohibit payment of bribes to foreign officials. In doing so, China is seeking to encourage good behavior among the growing number of Chinese companies doing business overseas.
BDTI will be holding a seminar(panel discussion) onthe most importanttopics regarding amendment of the CompanyLaw,whichhas been underdiscussion by the MOJLegal System Advisory Committee for more than a year. Two members of thekey Committee will be on the panel, as well as one of Japan's most respected practicing lawyers, and a well-known fund manager andCEO/CIOspecializing in Japanese equities investment.
For those who may not know about them, these Youtube videos by th famous Bob Monks really get at some key pointsat the leading edge of (needed) corporate governance reformin his wonderful clear way:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ragmonks
Also, Bob's blog is located at http://www.ragm.com/.
Karl Moore has written this useful piece:
Introduction
The TBLI Conference, viewed by many as the prime global networking and learning event on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and impact Investing, will be held in Tokyo at Chinzan-so this coming September 15 and 16.
In this year when Japan has experienced a disaster that relates directly to all three pillars of ESG, many may be interested to attend this thought-provoking conference, which brings together all types of professions and specialists.
Allianz subsidiary RCM has published its Sustainability White Paper, which analyzed a 5 year period and concluded that applying ESG factors to a portfolio does not negatively impact performance and may enhance it.
RCM described posed the key question as whether ESG is an opportunity or opportunity cost, anddescribed itsconclusions as follows: