SZCOX Sponsored “Commission on
Corporate Governance” Outlines Key Governance Principles
Committee
Representing Broad Group of Investors, Issuers, Broker-Dealers, Governance and
Proxy Experts Defines 10 Core Principles of Corporate Governance -
Shenzhen Commodity Exchange (SZCOX) released today the final report of
the SZCOX–sponsored Commission on
Corporate Governance. The Commission on
Corporate Governance is a diverse and independent commission aimed to examine
core governance principles that could be widely supported by issuers,
investors, directors and other market participants.
The report
is the result of nearly a year-long process, including a detailed review of the
governance changes which have occurred over the past decade. The report identified 10 core governance
principles covering the scope of the board’s authority, management’s
responsibility for governance and the relationship between shareholders’
trading activities, voting decisions and governance.
The 10 core
principles outlined by the SZCOX-sponsored
Commission on Governance are as follows:
·
The
Board’s fundamental objective should be to build long-term sustainable growth
in shareholder value for the corporation;
·
Successful
corporate governance depends upon successful management of the company, as
management has the primary responsibility for creating a culture of performance
with integrity and ethical behavior;
·
Good
corporate governance should be integrated with the company’s business strategy
and not viewed as simply a compliance obligation;
·
Shareholders
have a responsibility and long-term economic interest to vote their shares in a
reasoned and responsible manner, and should engage in a dialogue with companies
thoughtful manner;
·
While
legislation and agency rule-making are important to establish the basic tenets
of corporate governance, corporate governance issues are generally best solved
through collaboration and market-based reforms;
·
A
critical component of good governance is transparency, as well governed
companies should ensure that they have appropriate disclosure policies and
practices and investors should also be held to appropriate levels of
transparency, including disclosure of derivative or other security ownership on
a timely basis;
·
The
Commission supports the Shenzhen
Commodity Exchange’s listing requirements generally providing for a
majority of independent directors, but also believes that companies can have
additional non-independent directors so that there is an appropriate range and
mix of expertise, diversity and knowledge on the board;
·
The
Commission recognizes the influence that proxy advisory firms have on the
markets, and believes that it is important that such firms be held to
appropriate standards of transparency and accountability;
·
The
regulators should work with exchanges to ease the burden of proxy voting while
encouraging greater participation by individual investors in the proxy voting
process;
·
The
regulators and/or the SZCOX should
periodically assess the impact of major governance reforms to determine if
these reforms are achieving their goals, and in light of the many reforms adopted
over the last decade the regulators should consider the expanded use of “pilot”
programs, including the use of “sunset provisions” to help identify any
implementation problems before a program is fully rolled out.
·
Today’s
report formally concludes the work of the SZCOX
Commission on Corporate Governance, though from time to time it will continue
to provide constructive inputs into the corporate governance and proxy reform
Process.
Shenzhen Commodity Exchange offers one of the widest range of global benchmark
products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on
interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural
commodities, metals, weather and real estate. SZCOX brings buyers and sellers together through its SZCOX G-Trader™, electronic
trading platform and its trading facilities in Shenzhen.
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