Institute of Directors (IOD) organises ‘National Conference on Corporate Governance’ to revolutionalise the silent Indian Board

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Hyderabad, August 19th , 2009: Institute of Directors (IOD), the apex association of corporate directors in India on completing its 20th year of Service, announced that it will hold ‘National Conference on Corporate Governance’ with the theme ‘Getting REAL with Corporate Governance’ on August 21 and 22 at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad. The Conference will have the keynote address by Dr Madhav Mehra, President of UK’s World Council for Corporate Governance.

This conference aims to unfold a new principle-based approach to corporate governance, as opposed to traditional rule-driven approach to enable corporate governance practices to be implanted in the DNA of corporations. It intends to make boards an effective instrument of corporate transformation, innovation and social change in the wake of credit and resource crunch. To register for the event please log on to: http://iodonline.com/1/

Commenting on the conference, Dr Madhav Mehra , President of UK's World Council for Corporate Governance said, ‘’The basic reason of the economic meltdown that shook the earth’s tectonic plates, was that the boards failed to understand the gravity, scale and enormity of risk resulting from the excessive leverage and opacity due to a cozy culture of the boardroom; Independent directors were found hopeless in holding powerful chief executives to account; bonus schemes were manipulated to reward short term performance; governments, regulators and investors were all in thrall because of skyrocketing returns and instead of improving oversight raced to the bottom of regulation.”

This conference aims to bring out a blueprint of measures that mandates full disclosure and encourages transparency to restore confidence in the market place. It emphasizes the immediate need for disruption of status quo in board rooms by appointing new directors, bringing diversity, encouraging dialogue and focusing on training of directors as the most critical attribute. “Experience tells us we don’t need independent directors, we need directors of independent mind,” asserts Dr Mehra.

Mr Salman Khursheed, Minister of corporate affairs has confirmed participation alongside two of India’s most respectable former chief justices Justice P N Bhagwati and Justice M N Venkatchaliah. Other eminent Indian speakers invited include Mr C B Bhave , Chairman , SEBI, Ms Kalpana Morparia, JP Morgan, Peter Walker Chairman Pielle Consulting, Dr. K.I. Varaprasad Reddy, Managing Director, Shantha Biotechnics, Dr S N Dash , Secretary , Ministry of Heavy Industries, Richard Saldanha, director Blackstone group, Shailesh Haribhakti, Mr Uttam Agarwal , President ICAI, and Prithvi Haldia of Prime Database etc.

The awards for the ‘Distinguished Fellowships’ of the IOD will also be presented to outstanding corporate and public leaders contributions for their contributions to business and society.

The inputs from the conference will be presented to the 10th International Conference on Corporate Governance, in Mayfair, London on 9, 10 October 2009 where 35 countries will be participating. Details are on www.wcfcg.net.

About Institute of Directors (IOD):

Institute of Directors (IOD) is registered non-profit apex association of Company Directors committed to improving the competitiveness of Indian Business through development of its leadership. Dr Najma Heptulla is the founder chairman while Justice MN Venkatchalia is the current National Chairman as well as the chairman of the National Executive Council. IOD also confers distinguished fellowships from time to time to persons of eminence. Bharat Ratna Dr Abdul Kalam , the former President of India, Mr Kapil Sibal, the cabinet minister for HRD, Mr Navin Chawla , Chief Election Commissioner, Dr Vijay Mallya, MP Chairman, The UB Group, Mr Naresh Goyal , Chairman Jetair and Indu Jain, chair Times group are all distinguished fellows of IOD. IOD’s Masterclass for Directors programme is internationally acclaimed and has already certified 600 directors in India. The official website of the association is www.iodonline.com.