Hony. Editor
Dr. Bindi Mehta
(Director, Research at ICSI - CCRT, Formerly, Chief economist, CRISIL)
 
 
September, 2002
NYSE Approves Steps on Corporate Governance

The New York Stock Exchange's board has approved a set of measures aimed at strengthening corporate governance and restoring investors' confidence, which has been battered by recent scandals. The changes to NYSE listing standards recommended by an NYSE committee on corporate accountability and listing standards, will in general require NYSE - listed firms to have a majority of independent directors on their boards and to submit all stock option plans to shareholders for approval.





 
 
   
WorldCom lines up $ 2 billion for bankruptcy

IWorldCom, mired in one of the largest accounting scandal, has lined up $ 2billion in funding that the telephone-company could tap to keep operating if lenders force it into bankruptcy. Citigroup, J. P. Morgan Chase and General Electric's GE Capital financing arm will provide the so-called debtor-in-possession (DIP) funding, which will be backed by WorldCom's high speed internet network and other assets. US Federal Communications Commission that they did not believe that WorldCom's services would be disrupted cutting off millions of customers, and the agency was closely monitoring the situation.





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Business Schools discuss 'Social Responsibility'


A group of business school academics from Europe got together at Insead, the international business school at Fontainebleau, France on the occasion of the launch of the European Academy of Business in Society. In addition to a number of business schools, the effort is being supported by corporates like Shell, Johnson & Johnson and Levis. The academy wants that corporate responsibility issues be recognised as integral part of modern management and be taught throughout MBA programmes. The academy is an initiative of CSR Europe, the business lobby for social responsibility and Copenhagen Centre, set up by the Danish government in 1998 to promote partnerships between business, government an civil society organisations.




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Corporate Governance - Key Factor for Asian Investors

For institutional investors in Asia, corporate governance has become more important as compared to financial issues. About one fifth of the companies surveyed identified corporate governance as an important factor while evaluating Asian companies for their portfolios, according to a new survey of McKinsey and Company. Part of the focus stems from stock market blowouts from companies that were not forthcoming on their accounting practices, such as Enron and WorldCom. There are plenty of examples close to home, too, notably Singapore based Asian Pulp & Paper, which faces a number of legal complaints from shareholders and creditors. CLSA Emerging Markets, an investment bank conducted two annual surveys on corporate governance. Among Asian countries, Indonesia and Philippines have been at the bottom of the rankings in both the years. Singapore and Hong Kong are at the top of the CLSA rankings.

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© 2001 Academy of Corporate Governance