The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) organized a workshop on Corporate Governance in Bangladesh: How to Go About Institutionally? on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm at the BEI Conference Room.

Mr. Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi, Honourable Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has kindly consented to be the chief guest on the occasion.

Ms. Lopa Rahman, Project Director, BEI and Dr. Ananya Raihan, Executive Director, D.Net gave a short overview of the concept.

The workshop was chaired by Mr. Farooq Sobhan, President, BEI.

“Corporate governance is most often viewed as both the structure and the relationships which determine corporate direction and performance. The board of directors is typically central to corporate governance. Its relationship to the other primary participants, typically shareholders and management, is critical. Additional participants include employees, customers, suppliers, and creditors. The corporate governance framework also depends on the legal, regulatory, institutional and ethical environment of the community”[1].

While 20th century is viewed by many corporate governance leaders as the age of management, the early 21st century is predicted to be more focused on governance. While both terms address control of corporations, governance has always required an examination of underlying purpose and legitimacy [Charkham J. & A. Simpson, 1999].

In Bangladesh, issues of corporate governance have come into light thanks to a handful of initiatives, among which the systematic engagement of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) with different stakeholders during last two years. The discussions and deliberations of those discussions led to an idea of installing an institutional structure to nurture this issue, particularly form the view point of capacity building of Bangladesh’s corporate sector in prompting corporate governance and thus building an ethical, vibrant progressive corporate sector in Bangladesh. A feasibility study has been commissioned for understanding scope of establishing an independent Institute of Corporate Governance. In doing so stakeholder understanding is a must.

In this context, BEI has organised a one-day workshop for promoting the idea of independent institution and exploring potential modalities of its establishment with participation of wider stakeholders of the future institution. Participation from the following groups of institutions is expected:

   1. Listed companies
   2. Unlisted medium and large enterprises
   3. Ministries related to Corporate Governance: Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance
   4. Government institutions related to corporate governance: Securities and Exchange Commission, Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, Bangladesh 
   Bank, City Corporation, National Board of Revenue etc.
   5. Institutions facilitating Corporate Governance: ICMAB, ICAB
   6. Chartered Accountants Firms: KPMG, PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Deloitte Tousche, etc.

For further information, please contact Lopa Rahman, Project Director or Asif Ayub, Research Associate at BEI.