Post Conference Materials

Monday 29 October - SRI and Savings Plans in Asia Speakers & Presentations PANEL DISCUSSIONS: Corporate Governance and SRI パネル・ディスカッション:コーポレート・ガバナンスとSRI Chair: Mr. Jeremy Baskin, Head of Research, The Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS) Panel: Professor Scott Davis, Professor, Reitaku University Mr. Peter Montagnon, Head of Investment Affairs, Association of British Insurers 63 KB Corporate Governance and SRI Mr. John Taylor, Principal Researcher, Global Shareholder Service (Japan), IRRC Summary Three themes emerged in this session. 1) Useful comments made about board structure -- that boards which are not accountable to shareholders will not be accountable to society. The mechanics of how this is achieved are controversial with a focus on structures and the need for three committees perhaps being too mechanistic. 2) Is corporate governance a subset of CSR? Still no clear answer. Some felt both are about accountability. Others felt they are different especially if corporate governance is about privileging shareholders above other stakeholders. CSR and corporate governance concerns are more advanced in some countries than in others argued one speaker, "but both are behind in Asia". It may be about differing relationships between companies and society. 3) The blurring and cultural and national distinctions should not blind us to a real underlying trend -- that the corporate governance area is moving in Asia and that changes are happening. The concept of accountability has growing acceptance, and the need for change is accepted. But the direction of change is still unclear.

Mr. Jeremy Baskin Professor Scott Davis Mr. Peter Montagnon Mr. John Taylor