NEWS ABOUT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - June/1999
- In May 1999, the IBGC (Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute) held a five (5) day seminar in London and Paris to familiarize itself with the European experience in corporate governance and to import some practices that would be applicable in Brazil. The main topic of the seminar was corporate governance in all types of business, such as, companies quoted on stock exchanges, private organizations, and family-owned companies. It was attended by Brazilians and people of many other nationalities who came to hear and debate corporate governance with over twenty (20) British, French, German, and Swedish speakers, all with in-depth experience in the matter. An article on the seminar is available in the Technical Material section of this page.
- The Code of Best Corporate Governance Practices of the Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute - IBGC, launched in the BOVESPA (São Paulo Stock Exchange) Auditorium on May 6 this year, is already available in the Technical Material section on this page in both version Portuguese and English.
- It is becoming increasingly common for Brazilians to have a seat on boards of directors and other consulting boards outside Brazil, as part of today’s trend to globalized boards. Nizan Guanaes, President of DM9DDB was appointed to the Worldwide Committee of the DDB Board of Directors. Alain Belda was appointed CEO and will become Chairman of Alcoa in the year 2000, replacing Paul H. O’Neil. Economist Affonso Celso Pastore was elected a member of the Deutsche Bank Board of Directors.
- The US Securities and Exchange Commission is deeply preoccupied with the integrity of financial statements and plans to introduce stricter regulations for Audit Boards appointed by US corporate Boards of Directors. In line with SEC concerns, the shareholders of the US wholesale pharmaceutical organization, McKesson HBOC, Inc. dismissed their Chairman Charles W. McCal for questionable accounting practices whereby profits in excess of actual income were recorded and disclosed.
- From July 7 through 9, the International Corporate Governance Network - ICGN (founded in 1995 and which already has 250 members in 17 countries), will hold its Fourth Annual Conference in Frankfurt, Germany. Its purpose is the exchange of information and experiences relating to global corporate governance matters, in addition to creating corporate governance guidelines and procedures. More information on page www.calpers-governance.org/principles/international/icgn/
- In São Paulo, the IBGC (Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute) will shortly be giving its third Directors’ Course. This course comprises ten modules over a total of 104 class/hours and is aimed both at directors wishing to recycle their knowledge and to those who are just beginning to become involved in these activities. More information tel.: (011) 3043 7008, or fax: (011) or e-mail: ibgc@amcham.com.br
- Europe’s biggest industry, Fiat Spa, has just appointed its new board of directors, which include three new names: John F. Welch, Chairman of General Electric, Carl Ludwig von Boehm-Bezing, a member of the Deutsche Bank AG Board of Directors, and Virgílio Marrone, a member of the IFI SpA (Agnelli family holding company) Board of Directors. There are still only eleven directors, although Fiat recently approved a change in its by-laws permitting the company to expand its board of directors to fifteen.
