Corporate governance in financial institutions and listed companies
01 March 2011
The Commission aims at publishing a legislative proposal on corporate governance in financial institutions in or around June 2011. However, the unit in charge of this issue in DG MARKT is not sure whether it will come as a stand-alone proposal, or be presented in September within a wider framework.
The Commission published a feedback statement in November 2010 summarising the main responses to the Commission consultation on corporate governance in financial institutions (EC feedback statement). They are now working on the Impact Assessment. An EU official stressed that this proposal will be more an “evolution than a revolution” on corporate governance in Europe. This means that there will be room for the industry to adopt a customised approach to corporate governance.
The Commission will launch a Green paper at the end of April on corporate governance in listed companies. This Green paper will contain around 25 questions covering issues such as the expertise of the companies’ boards, and the duration of its mandate or the Board’s diversity (mainly in gender terms).
Apparently, Commissioner Barnier has pushed hard to introduce corporate governance in the EU regulatory agenda. Furthermore, he believes that corporate social responsibility and corporate governance are linked and should be analysed together.
