Independent Directors’ Info
BSEC provides checklist for banks, listed cos
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission as the implementing authority of Corporate Governance Guideline has provided a checklist for banks and listed companies to get independent directors’ information. The BSEC took the move as per its earlier notification which directed all the listed companies to comply with the Corporate Governance Guideline.The recent amendment to the Companies Act also empowers BSEC instead of Bangladesh Bank to monitor the appointment of independent directors of all banks and companies.
The BSEC in the latest checklist for the independent directors asked all the banks and companies to provide 16 types of information regarding their respective independent directors.
As per the fresh checklist companies have to inform the BSEC whether the company is having one fifth of total number of directors in the company’s board are independent or not.
The BSEC in the revised corporate governance guideline made it mandatory for all the listed companies having at least one fifth independent directors of its board size.
The BSEC also asked the companies to provide independent directors’ holding information, having any relationship with the company, any affiliation with stock exchanges in present or in past three years, holding directorship in three listed companies, convicted by any court or defaulter in any loan payment, shareholders approval for the directorship and bio-data or CV.
The BSEC in July 2012 issued the amended Corporate Governance Guidelines asking the listed companies to comply with the new provisions by December 31, 2012.
The amended guidelines said that the independent directors would either hold no share or less than one per cent shares of the company’s total paid-up capital.
The securities regulator has extended the responsibilities of the company’s directors under the CGG, to be included in the company related information in the directors’ report prepared for the shareholders under the Companies Act, 1994.
All members of a company’s audit committee are bound to be ‘financially literate’, and at least one member will have accounting or financial management-related experience, the guideline said.
-With New Age input
