Past corporate governance was usually a concern of domestic law. However, corporate governance has become a global concern in the sense that the global corporate governance of a country affects its financial markets and economies, and creates regional...
Past corporate governance was usually a concern of domestic law. However, corporate governance has become a global concern in the sense that the global corporate governance of a country affects its financial markets and economies, and creates regional and global ripple effects. In 1997, Korea began to pay more attention to corporate governance in a crisis of receiving money from the IMF. There has been a growing demand for improved corporate governance at the international level, and the demand for international best practices for corporate governance has increased. The paper examines cases of international organizations and major countries on corporate governance best practices and looks for the best model that can be used internationally. In addition, the present situation and problems of the corporate governance structure norms of Korea and other countries and the corporate governance structure norms are compared and analyzed.
First of all, since a model that provides secure protections for rights of minority shareholders is acknowledged as superior for corporate governance, it shall guarantee the equal rights of shareholders and, in particular, allow and execute such measures as shareholder proposals, cumulative voting and representative action to protect the rights of minority shareholders;
Secondly, in relation to the board of directors, ① 50% or more seats of the board shall be assigned to outside directors, ② outside directors shall be independent of controlling shareholders and managerial executives, ③ separation of CEO and chairman of the board is recommended, ④ provisions of the articles of association shall grant the board the option that it may organize sub-committees, ⑤ the board and respective director shall be, jointly and severally, responsible for company and shareholders, and ⑥ compensation for directors by stock option is recommended, all of which constitute the fundamental practices for improvement of the board.
Thirdly, in relation to auditing body and outside auditor, ① the article of association shall provide the establishment of auditor (or the board of auditors) or auditing committee, ② members of auditing body shall be responsible for company and shareholders, ③ independence of outside auditors shall be secured, and ④ outside auditor’s responsibility for damages shall be clearly stated..
Forthly, in connection to stakeholders, company shall ① protect the rights of stakeholders, ② furnish information on the company’s management at a reasonable level, and ③ acknowledge the employee participation in the company’s management.
Lastly, in relation to public disclosure of information for the more transparent management, information to be disclosed to the public shall contain ① company’s managerial goals and strategies, ② financial status and managerial performances, ③ status of shareholders and execution of major shareholder’s rights, ④ policies regarding the remuneration for the board of directors and managerial executives, their qualification, appointment procedures and concurrent office with other company, and independence of outside directors, ⑤ relevant transactions, ⑥ predictable risk factors, ⑦ opinion from outside auditor and evaluation by credit rating agencies, and other reasonable information and shall provide CEO/CFO’s responsibility for the certification of disclosed financial statements.
In China, the corporate governance best practices have been revised in accordance with the guidelines established by the Commission on the Establishment of Corporate Governance Best Practices in the Financial Services Agency in March 2016, Month. By December last year, more than 2500 companies, or about 70% of listed companies, have publicly announced their compliance with the Code of Practice. But we will build more detailed standards.