the UK Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
Dr Joseph Lee Meets with representatives of ICSA to explore the changing role of Company Secretaries
On 14 September, Joseph Lee of Exeter Law School met Simon Osborne and Peter Swabey of the UK Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) to explore how the role of the company secretary is changing as transnational governance evolves.
The meeting touched on some policy and legal issues such as: how company secretaries ensure board independence; how they promote principle-based governance, and what tools the company secretary needs to achieve organisational goals. The experiences of UK company secretaries as corporate gatekeepers provide invaluable lessons for policy makers, both at home and abroad, in seeking to close the governance lacuna. Mr Osborne also shed light on how cultural differences between Asia and the West affect board independence. The meeting also examined areas that need policy attention. As Asian economies are developing governance rules and EU agencies are searching ways to improve corporate performance, it is timely for further engagement with policy makers to make the role of company secretary an integral part of corporate governance and thereby promote corporate success.
Date: 28 September 2015