2011
7th International Corporate Governance Summit
Dates: September 13, 2011
Venue: Mumbai
CII’s 7th International Corporate Governance Summit 2011
In keeping with its continued commitment to promote and improve corporate governance standards & practices both in letter and spirit amongst Indian Industry, CII organized the 7th International Corporate Governance Summit on 13 September 2011 at Mumbai.
The Chief Guest at the Summit was Dr M Veerappa Moily, Minister of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. Delivering the Inaugural Address, Dr Moily said, “Government must do everything to strengthen industry and at the same time industry must take the right course. Sometimes the government has to regulate, but that should not be dominant.” Addressing the captains of Indian industry, the Minister spoke about striking a balance between the need of the government to regulate and that of corporates to exist in a free, unhinged manner.
“This is the era of democratic capitalism. All of us need to graduate to that culture. What we need is systemic change. We need to rise above the law. It is important that laws and corporate governance manage to create values in personal, public and corporate life. New cultures need to be made,” said the Minister in his Inaugural Address.
Delivering the Special Address at the Summit, Mr. B Muthuraman, President, CII said, “The key issue is to have ‘just enough’ law, while leaving room for entrepreneurship, creativity and good behaviour. The law that merely leads one to compliance is not adequate. We must encourage laws that change behaviour. Elucidating further, President, CII said that instead of mandating CSR spend, the government should encourage it by incentivising good conduct and behaviour. We need to look at value creation beyond laws and compliance.”
Earlier, Mr Rahul Bajaj, Past President, CII & Chairman, CII National Council on Corporate Governance & Regulatory Affairs, presenting the perspective of industry, said, “Like in technology, we need to leapfrog in terms of regulations and adapt best global practices. The government should not strangulate our companies by burdening them with more regulations. We must trust those who create wealth for the nation. There will always be aberration but that should not come in the way of trust between government and corporates.”
Justifying his assertion, Mr. Bajaj added, “I have nothing against regulations. But please do not come in the way of growth of corporate sector. Even in developed nations, some have competition policy or law or both. But it is all voluntary. Please encourage competition, do not destroy it.”
Highlighting the importance CII assigns to adoption of good corporate governance by India Inc., Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General CII said, “We at CII, have always encouraged voluntary adoption of practices and self regulation by corporates thus obviating the need for additional regulations. Our comprehensive and sustained policy advocacy has been aimed at facilitating the creation of a streamlined and harmonized regulatory environment that addresses both the government’s concerns as well as the industry’s need for growth.”
A CII KPMG report titled ‘Corporate Governance: Value Beyond Compliance’ was released by the Minister for Corporate Affairs on the occasion. The paper analyzes the key regulatory developments and challenges in the area of corporate governance in India. It also captures the best practices for facilitating strong corporate governance.
The Summit brought together industry members representing various sectors to brainstorm on the global governance landscape. Industry leaders and corporate governance experts such as Mr Leo Puri, Adviser, Warburg Pincus; Mr Amit Chandra. Managing Director, Bain Capital; Mr D Ragavan, Executive Vice President, Siemens; Mr Raajeev Batra, Executive Director & Co-Head, Governance, Risk & Compliance Services, KPMG and Mr K Hari, Vice President, National Stock Exchange discussed the top global governance trends being adopted worldwide and their suitability and adaptability in the domestic context.
A discussion on the expanding regulatory perimeter with reference to the yet awaited Companies Bill, 2011 also took place. Industry experts such as Ms Shobana Kamineni, Executive Director, Apollo Hospitals Group; Dr Omkar Goswami, Founder & Chairman, CERG Advisory; Mr Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, BDO Consulting and Mr Shardul Shroff, Managing Partner, Amarchand & Mangaldas deliberated whether the proposed regulatory strategies will be truly effective in improving corporate governance practices or would these remain confined to a compliance checklist.
The Summit saw the participation of large number of delegates representing senior management of India Inc.