The games they play…

The games they play…

There was an interesting article in Financial Express of 20th July 2011.Here is the link to the said article :http://www.financialexpress.com/news/short-of-talent-india-inc-in-a-fix-over-9year-norm/819665/0

After reading the piece,here is what I had written to the Editor in response : Dear Sir, The article by Ronojoy Banerjee titled :”Short of talent,India Inc in a fix over 9-year norm” in FE of 20th July 2011,exposing gross violation of clause 49 of SEBI’s listing agreement by several leading companies,was a shocking expose about board games played by corporates in the name of independent directors.The list of 6 violating companies  given in the article,astonishingly shows Tata’s Nusli Wadia with maximum tenure of 32 years followed by S M Palia (23 years).With inclusion of independent directors for such long terms,on the board,the basic purpose of their induction viz uninfluenced decision making,gets defeated.”Familiarity breeds contempt”-the oft quoted saying, is quite apt in such cases too.Exceeding the prescribed norms results in sacrificing of transparency,non-compliance of corporate governance guidelines and turning independent directors into mere puppets and mute spectators watching the board’s shenanigans instead of using their judgement for whistle-blowing against wrong-doings that may lead to corporate apocalypse.It is high time that SEBI reinforces the need for strictly adhering with the prescribed norms and making it mandatory for the auditors to comment specifically and critically on the tenure of independent directors on the board.Such business tactics can be broadly likened to “match-fixing” incidents in the game of cricket.It is high time the corporates play a true and fair game to win the confidence of its shareholders.-J S Broca New Delhi.

 
Today’s FE has pubished an edited version of my letter.Here is the final piece:Lette
rs to the editor
The Financial Express
Aug 03, 2011 at 2306 hrs IST
: Play a fair game :The news item “Short of talent, India Inc in a fix over 9-year norm” (FE, July 20) exposing gross violation of clause 49 of Sebi’s listing agreement by several leading companies was a shocking expose on board games played by corporates in the name of independent directors. The list of violating companies shows Nusli Wadia with a maximum tenure of 32 years followed by SM Palia (23 years). With inclusion of independent directors for such long terms on the board, the basic purpose of their induction gets defeated. “Familiarity breeds contempt” is apt in such cases. Exceeding the prescribed norms results in sacrificing of transparency, non-compliance of corporate governance guidelines and turns independent directors into mere puppets. It is high time Sebi reinforces the need for strictly adhering to the prescribed norms and making it mandatory for the auditors to comment on the tenure of independent directors on the board. Such business tactics can be likened to “match-fixing” incidents. It is time corporates play a fair game. JS Broca, New Delhi
What is your response to the issue , dear readers ?  
Incidentally,those who are interested in directly reading my letter on FE’s website can go to : http://www.financialexpress.com/news/letters-to-the-editor/826260/0
 
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2 Responses to The games they play…

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