IICA-IFC Webinar on CG Scorecard
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) under a cooperation agreement are committed to strengthen Corporate Affairs and Corporate Governance (CG) practices in India by enhancing capacities of key professionals engaged especially as Independent Directors, Women Directors and other CG professionals.
IFC with BSE & Institutional Investor Advisory Services (India) Limited (IiAS), developed a CG Assessment Framework (or Scorecard) based on G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. Though this Scorecard was launched in December 2016, it took some time to develop, test and run pilots aligned with Indian market. IiAS being a technical partner was responsible for drafting the Scorecard, Questionnaire, and Methodology.
The Scorecard, comprising of 70 questions looks beyond compliance by focusing on substantive issues relating to CG practices, disclosures and control, thereby helping the market move beyond a “Check the Box Approach”. It can be used by corporate, investors and regulators.
IICA conducted a webinar on the Corporate Governance (CG) Scorecard on March 12, 2020 in association with IFC.
The intent of the webinar was to orient CG professionals in providing a fair assessment of CG practices at a corporate level. This in return can give the investors, regulators and stakeholders’ key information in curving their decisions on such companies.
The webinar started with introductory remarks by Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head of School of Corporate Governance & Public Policy – IICA. Dr. Gupta briefed participants about how CG Scorecard ratings can be used by investors in making investment decisions.
IICA engaged Ms. Hetal Dalal & Mr. Anup Pawar, Key Researchers from IiAS.
Ms. Dalal & Mr. Pawar oriented participants about the CG scorecard framework on (1) genesis of the framework and (2) questions included.
They also navigated participants through results on the study of Indian Corporate Governance Scores – 2019 and a comparative analysis of the last three studies performed by IiAS. The studies included CG practices by 100 BSE companies and select IPO companies covering,
- Sectoral and company ownership-wise distribution of scores
- Linkages with stock price performance and stock volatility
They also explained how CG scorecard can help companies to benchmark themselves on their corporate governance status as well as provide investors a standardized measure of CG status of any company. Participants gained insight into key governance themes where corporate India is doing well and and also the areas where there is scope for improvement
