Focus on the Society for Corporate Governance Essentials

As always, Nicolas Leroux, Daniel Kotsides, JD, CIPP(US) and Thomas Blanchard came back from the event with much food for thought.

1️⃣ Private companies can often benefit from good practices of public companies, e.g. in terms of reporting, director compensation guidelines and CEO supervision. However, not everything is useful nor can be applied!

2️⃣ When choosing directors, prioritize cultural fit and availability, ie does the prospective director have capacity to actually digest the information provided to them and be an active, meaningful participant in board meetings?

3️⃣ Jurisdictions around the world often have local residency requirements for who can serve as directors of entities, and these roles can be difficult to fill especially where criminal liability can land on these individuals for non-compliance with local requirements. A strong compliance track record ensures your company can fill these roles in your subsidiaries around the world.

4️⃣ Don’t wait until you are in the middle of a financing or merger to determine the standing of your entities, establish a routine periodic audit, or better yet engage a trusted partner to manage your entities and rest assured they will be in good standing.

5️⃣ Running any business comes with inherent risks, but those risks should always be balanced by potential benefits. The risk of failing to comply with your entities’ compliance obligations comes with no potential and possibly massive risk, what are you doing to eliminate this risk?

Our sincere thanks to the Society for Corporate Governance team, next stop, Colorado Springs for the National Conference!