Saturday, August 05, 2006

Corporate Governance of Asian Banks


The OECD recently issued a "Policy Brief on Corporate Governance of Banks in Asia."

The report notes that directors of banks may have a heightened fiduciary duty because of banks acceptance of the public's money. An audit committee is especiallly important at a bank, and should be comprised of directors with appropriate financial expertise. Internal auditors should report directly to the audit committee on a regular basis.

The report notes the Asian countries need to consider whether rules barring related party transactions (RPTs) are sufficient to assure that transactions occur on an arm's length basis. RPTs should be reviewed and approved by independent directors. Included in these RPTs are transactions with other companies that may be part of the same corporate group as the bank. Controls should be in place to assure that abusive transactions within the conglomerate group are avoided.

See full Article.