Directors on FTSE boards are increasingly wary of the role of the Non-Executive Director (NED), according to the fifth Ernst & Young Corporate Governance survey. And attitudes to taking on a NED position have continued to decline over the last few years.
The annual survey, conducted by MORI among the UK’s leading 500 companies, reveals that over 40% of respondents were sceptical about taking on a NED position – no change on the 2005 results – and 1 in 3 are less likely to take on the role. As one respondent put it, “The responsibilities that a NED has are huge but reward for taking on that responsibility is tiny, so it seems to me a pointless exercise.”
Gerald Russell, senior partner in London, and Chairman of Ernst & Young’s Non-Executive Director Programme, says “The picture, disappointingly, remains unattractive. The onus of regulation and recent public proceedings against directors, including last year’s multi-billion pound Equitable Life case, has resulted in a burden which many see as intolerable.”
See full Article.
Posts
