scholarly journals Recent Developments in Corporate Governance Codes in the GCC Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Mohammed Haitham A. Salman ◽  
Haitham Nobanee
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Oecd Principles ◽  
Corporate Governance Codes ◽  
Recent Developments

This paper aims to examine recent developments in corporate governance codes in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and evaluate to what extent these changes are in line with the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance 2015 Edition. The paper employed an analytical comparative approach, the results show all GCC countries, except Bahrain, have recently updated their CG codes. Bahrain needs to update its current CG code in terms of the rights of both shareholders and stakeholders to be in line with international best practice. Efforts in the GCC region to enhance CG in listed companies should be continued and expanded to cover state-owned enterprises, sovereign wealth funds, and banks. The findings would be useful to the financial managers in the GCC in complying with the recent developments in corporate governance codes and in developing guidelines for appropriate disclosure to improve the reporting quality.

The Volatility of Sovereign Wealth Funds

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1850172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Grennes
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Recession ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Recent Developments

This paper evaluates sovereign wealth funds in light of the extreme volatility of energy prices and the severe global recession that began in 2008. A recent paper by Das characterized the assets of funds as showing steady growth in the past and likely increased importance in the future. However, recent developments have reduced the relative importance of funds and have demonstrated the sensitivity of the funds to energy prices and world business cycles. Investments by sovereign wealth funds have the potential to introduce political influence into corporate governance, but this potential is much smaller than the interventions into corporate governance by governments of the United States and elsewhere connected to corporate bail-outs during the recession. Lack of transparency remains a problem for certain sovereign wealth funds, but anti-recession interventions by governments have been characterized by extreme lack of transparency.

Corporate governance codes of Eurasian Economic Union countries: a comparative investigation

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirgul Nizaeva ◽  
Ali Uyar
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Transition Countries ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
Oecd Principles ◽  
Corporate Governance Codes ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to comparatively analyze the corporate governance codes of transition economies, particularly five Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) members (i.e. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia). Specifically, the convergence or divergence of these countries’ corporate governance codes among themselves as well as relative to the best practices of the UK Corporate Governance Code (UK Code) and the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance are investigated. Design/methodology/approach Initially, the existing literature on corporate governance with special focus on transition countries is reviewed. Afterwards, benchmarking the international best practices, based on main chapters and contents, the corporate governance codes of all countries in the sample are analyzed. Findings The paper finds that even though some principles of the corporate governance codes of the countries in the sample differ in some aspects, they do converge to some extent. However, high misalignments between the UK Code and the OECD Principles and the codes of selected countries in some aspects were found. Research limitations/implications The conclusion and implications of the study characterize the corporate governance of selected developing countries; thus, they might not be generalizable to other countries. Practical implications The codes of the countries in the sample should be revised, and more specifications regarding the stakeholder, board structure, its subcommittees, independence, diversity and transparency issues need to be addressed. Originality/value The paper comprehensively analyzes the contents of corporate governance codes of transition countries; from both practical and academic point of view, it was important gap that needed to be fulfilled.

scholarly journals Corporate governance practices in Europe: A descriptive study.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eldi Metushi ◽  
Jackie Di Vito ◽  
Andrea Fradeani
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Best Practice Guidelines ◽  
Corporate Governance Codes ◽  
Level Statistics ◽  
Governance Practices

Our study examines corporate governance practices in Europe according to the best practice guidelines of 17 countries. We particularly focus on the independence criteria of Board members. Doing so, we wish to understand how these best practices are enforced in the actual corporate governance guidelines in each country. To better define the independence criteria, which is very different among European countries, we develop our own measure of independence, taking into account the strictest criteria of independence recommended in the corporate governance codes of the studied countries. Then, we gather firm-level statistics on a sample of 463 European firms to understand whether the best practice guidelines are actually enforced by these firms. Hence, we contribute to the existent literature by presenting descriptive statistics on the compliance of European firms to their national guidelines. Our findings show that most European firms tend to comply with their local best practice guidelines of corporate governance. We also document a high compliance of our European sample-firm with the Anglo - Saxon best practices of corporate governance.

scholarly journals Examining the extent of and drivers for materiality assessment disclosures in sustainability reports

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Bilal Farooq ◽  
Rashid Zaman ◽  
Dania Sarraj ◽  
Fahad Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Ordered Logic

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the extent of materiality assessment disclosures in sustainability reports and their determinants. The study examines the disclosure practices of listed companies based in the member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, colloquially referred to as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Design/methodology/approach First, the materiality assessment disclosures were scored through a content analysis of sustainability reports published by listed GCC companies during a five-year period from 2013 to 2017. Second, a fixed effect ordered logic regression was used to examine the determinants of materiality assessment disclosures. Findings While sustainability reporting rates improved across the sample period, a significant majority of listed GCC companies do not engage in sustainability reporting. The use of internationally recognised standards has also declined. While reporters provide more information on their materiality assessment, the number of sustainability reports that offer information on how the reporter identifies material issues has declined. These trends potentially indicate the existence of managerial capture. Materiality assessment disclosure scores are positively influenced by higher financial performance (Return on Assets), lower leverage and better corporate governance. However, company size and market-to-book ratio do not influence materiality assessment disclosures. Practical implications The findings may prove useful to managers responsible for preparing sustainability reports who can benefit from the examples of materiality assessment disclosures. An evaluation of the materiality assessment should be included in the scope of assurance engagements and practitioners can use the examples of best practice when evaluating sustainability reports. Stock exchanges may consider developing improved corporate governance guidelines as these will lead to materiality assessment disclosures. Social implications The findings may assist in improving sustainability reporting quality, through better materiality assessment disclosures. This will allow corporate stakeholders to evaluate the reporting entities underlying processes, which leads to transparency and corporate accountability. Improved corporate sustainability reporting supports the GCC commitment to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and transition to sustainable development. Originality/value This study addresses the call for greater research examining materiality within a sustainability reporting context. This is the first paper to examine sustainability reporting quality in the GCC region, focussing particularly on materiality assessment disclosures.

Corporate Governance Regulation

2019 ◽  
pp. 223-334
Author(s):  
Carsten Gerner-Beuerle ◽  
Michael Schillig
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Incomplete Contracts ◽  
Social Function ◽  
The United States ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Corporate Governance Codes ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Over Time

This chapter first analyses whether the corporation is merely a profit-maximizing entity or performs a more inclusive, social function. It then discusses some basic economic concepts that are important to understand the underlying conflicts that corporate governance regulation seeks to address, such as efficiency, incomplete contracts, and agency costs. Next, it examines the goals that corporate governance regulation in the United States, the UK, Germany, and France pursues, and gives an overview of the evolution of the corporate governance movement, which started in the United States in the 1970s. The chapter then introduces the most important corporate actors—officers, directors, and shareholders—and explores whether the ownership structure of public stock corporations has changed over time and continues to differ between countries. The final section analyses how corporate boards are designed, and how best practice standards contained in corporate governance codes shape the composition of boards.

Ownership concentration in the Gulf Cooperation Council

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irma Martinez-Garcia ◽  
Rodrigo Basco ◽  
Silvia Gomez-Anson ◽  
Narjess Boubakri
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Ownership Concentration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Pyramid Structures

PurposeThis article attempts to answer the following questions: Who ultimately owns firms listed in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? Does ownership structure depend on the institutional context? How does ownership affect firm performance? Do institutional factors influence the ownership–performance relationship?Design/methodology/approachWe apply univariate analyses and generalised methods of moments estimations for a sample of 692 GCC listed firms during 2009–2015.FindingsOur results reveal that corporations are mainly controlled by the state or families, the ownership structure is highly concentrated and pyramid structures are common in the region. Ownership is more concentrated in non-financial than financial firms, and ownership concentration and shareholder identity differ by institutional country setting. Finally, ownership concentration does not influence performance, but formal institutions play a moderating role in the relationship.Practical implicationsAs our findings reveal potential type II agency problems due to ownership concentration, policymakers should raise awareness of professional corporate governance practices and tailor them to GCC countries’ institutional contexts.Social implicationsEven with the introduction of new regulations by some GCC states to protect minority investors and promote corporate governance practices, ownership concentration is a rigid structure, and its use by investors to protect their economic endowment and power is culturally embedded.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies have analysed ownership concentration and large shareholders’ identities across countries, this study fills a research gap investigating this phenomenon in-depth in emerging economies.

scholarly journals Diffusion of regulatory innovations: the case of corporate governance codes

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARSTEN GERNER-BEUERLE
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Legal Environment ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
International Diffusion ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Corporate Governance Codes ◽  
Practice Standards ◽  
Foreign Standard

AbstractSince the 1990s, most European countries have adopted detailed corporate governance codes regulating listed companies. Even though the initial codes were designed against the backdrop of a particular jurisdiction, best practice standards have become remarkably similar across legal traditions. This raises the question whether the codes are sufficiently responsive to local conditions, or standard setters are mainly motivated by the concern not to fall behind internationally accepted benchmark standards. The article quantifies central corporate governance provisions and maps their international diffusion. Controlling for differences in legal families and ownership structure, the article shows that the diffusion of best practice standards leads to a statistically significant increase in the likelihood that a foreign standard setter will adopt a broadly similar provision. The findings indicate that codes are often seen as signaling devices, irrespective of whether or not the adopted standards are well aligned with the domestic economic and legal environment.

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