Dr Joseph Lee Meets with representatives of ICSA to explore the changing role of Company Secretaries

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.