1. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 1
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Need for an effective Corporate Governance
framework
Governance challenges faced by Asia’s Finance
Leaders
How Asia’s Finance Leaders can foster & promote
good ethical practice within their organizations
Benefits of having a strong company culture on
Governance & Ethics
Correlation between good Governance & Ethics
Take aways on Ethics
This presentation deals with…

2. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 2
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Accountability failures (many were the result of significant
structural weakness in corporate governance & accountability models
combined with a lack of personal ethics & integrity)
Loss of billions ($$$) of invested capital
Loss of Investor confidence
Impact on livelihood for many employees
Impact on work ethics & culture
Impact on public confidence & trust
Impact on local & national economies
Need for a Corporate Governance Framework
Harvey Pitt answers...
Q) How has the world
changed since Enron
collapsed?
A) Discipline within
companies has gotten a lot
better. People have spent
more time getting their
systems under control and
making sure they have good
internal controls. And we've
all gotten smarter ☺

3. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 3
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Shareholder value maximization in an era of hyper-
competition
Managing / Mitigating risks for shareholders
Ethical conduct (transparency) & compliance
Improve corporate financial reporting & internal controls
Hiring the right person with right skills & values
Creating / demanding accountability from ‘one and all’
Ethical decision making
Strengthening audit committees
Be an effective advisor to the Board of Directors
Challenges faced by Asia’s Finance Leaders

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Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Trust to be the ‘bedrock’ on which an ethical structure
(framework) could be built
Company-wide ‘Code of Ethics / Conduct’
Leaders demonstrating ethical behavior – ‘The Boss should
be more Catholic than the Pope!’
Regular training of junior & senior officers on ethical
behavior and conduct
Established whistle-blowing policy & protection for whistle-
blowers
Ethics committee - Review, Monitor & Implement policies
Review of ethical behavior during recruitment and
performance appraisals
Fostering & promoting ethical practice

5. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 5
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Feel-good factor & Trust amongst employees & other connected
stakeholders
Staff motivation & morale – Increased efficiency
Preferred employer status – Caring company
Regulatory compliance
Overall reputation & brand-building – Good Corporate Citizen status
Maintain excellent reputation with banks, financial institutions &
investment community - About one in every ten dollars of assets under
management in the U.S. - an estimated $2.3 trillion out of $24 trillion - is being
invested in companies that rate highly on some measure of social responsibility
- FORTUNE Magazine
Competitive edge – Impact on business performance
Benefits of a strong ethical culture

6. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 6
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Positive correlation between governance & ethics
Good corporate citizenship status
Correlation between good governance & ethics
Companies that demonstrate ethical leadership & superior governance:

7. 11/27/2006 Copyright © K.Sriram 7
Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Ethical behavior to be a requirement, not an option
Ethics, a must in all daily interactions with internal, external &
connected stakeholders
Communicate the desired ethical behavior in an ethics Code of
Conduct
Preserve ethics to let everyone know ethics is here to stay
Preserve an ethical culture that perpetuates ethics
Promote ethics and their long-lasting benefits
Promote ethics from the top – Remember…Bottleneck is always
at the top of the bottle!
Promote a company culture where ethics is for everybody
Never forget to reward ethical behavior
Take aways on ‘Ethics’…

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Governance, Ethics & Asia’s Finance Leaders
Questions?
Thank You ☺

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Event Photos (1 of 3)

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Event Photos (2 of 3)

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Event Photos (3 of 3)