Companies based in the UK and the Netherlands have the best over-all corporate governance standards in the developed world, according to the results of a new international study released today by global socially responsible investment (SRI) research firm Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS). The survey found an increasing convergence between countries on corporate governance practices.
 
Driven by scandals and a decade of activism by pension and retail investors, UK companies demonstrate a high uptake of corporate governance principles. As other countries undertake reviews of their governance standards, many of them are adopting the same principles: "It is encouraging to see more and more companies taking corporate governance seriously, though there are variations in how far this goes on a country-by-country basis", said EIRIS' Head of Research Mary Paterson.
 
EIRIS found that:

• Only 25% of US companies separate the roles of chairman and CEO compared with at least 50% for companies in other developed economies
• Swiss boards have the highest percentage of independent directors (81%) – Germany, Austria and Japan all have less than 10%
• Only 4% of companies in Japan have audit committees comprising a majority of independent directors compared to over 95% in the USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the UK and Ireland
• Only 22% of companies in Singapore and 25% of companies in Hong Kong have meaningful codes of ethics

Head of International Relations at EIRIS, Stephen Hine, said: “Increasingly, corporate governance is being seen in the context of the broader issue of corporate transparency and accountability, both of which are crucial for investors wishing to understand how companies manage wider social, environmental and other ethical concerns.”
 
EIRIS analysed a range of key corporate governance indicators at over 1600 companies in 24 countries in Europe, North America and the Asia-pacific region.
 
In line with current trends, EIRIS looked beyond the traditional criteria used to judge good corporate governance to include such issues as female representation on the board: “We welcome the broadening of the corporate governance agenda to address codes of ethics and the number of women on the board,” said EIRIS' Executive Director Peter Webster.
 
For a full copy of the research briefing please visit:
http://www.eiris.org/Files/Otherpublications/corpgov05.pdf
 
Press contacts:
      
Scott McAusland,+44 (0)20 7840 5703
scott.mcausland@eiris.org
 
Stephen Hine, +44 (0)20 7840 5716
Stephen.hine@eiris.org