The London roundtable, entitled “Effective corporate governance: What is the role of regulation?”, aims to make recommendations on two key questions:

• What is the appropriate balance between regulation and market-driven solutions to governance issues?
• How do companies deal with the multiplicity of governance rules when they operate on a global basis?

This will be the third roundtable on corporate governance organized by ICC in the past 12 months, bringing together business leaders and other experts from throughout the world. Featuring speakers from business and government and an enthusiastic audience of ICC members and guests, the roundtables are important international fora, successfully identifying practical ways to advance effective corporate governance programmes.

ICC, the world business organization, believes that the right balance needs to be struck between a regulatory approach and market driven solutions to avoid problems where possible in corporate governance. It calls on business leaders and governments to engage in discussions on how to implement sound corporate governance and work together to promote the benefits of market self-regulation and strengthen existing rules.

A wide range of organizations representing all sectors and regions will be invited to the London roundtable. They include: Advance Securities Company Ltd., Thailand; African Rainbow Minerals, South Africa; British American Tobacco, UK; Business Unity South Africa; Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges, Egypt; C&S International, UK/Australia; Chambers of Commerce of South Africa; Deloitte & Touche USA LLP; European Commission; First Eastern Investment Group, Hong Kong; GMD Global Advisors Ltd., Turkey; Governance for Owners, USA; Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; International Corporate Governance Network, London; ISI Securities of Euromoney, USA; Lloyd’s, UK; McKinsey & Company, UK; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris; Russian Institute of Directors; Standard & Poor's Governance Services, USA.  

The previous roundtables were in Beijing in October 2004, which reviewed corporate government practices in Asian companies, and in Istanbul in April 2005. The Istanbul roundtable demonstrated that, although there is not a one-size-fits-all model for good corporate governance, there are universal governance values and principles, namely accountability, responsibility, transparency and fairness. The ICC website on corporate governance, http://www.iccwbo.org/corporate-governance/ contains a recently published report on the Istanbul roundtable.

You can learn more on good corporate governance practices by reading “Corporate Governance Worldwide” by Güler Manisali Darman, published by ICC and available from the ICC Bookstore at www.iccbooks.com.

The day after the conference (19 October), the ICC Commission on Financial Services and Insurance will hold its biannual meeting in London. The meeting will be open to conference participants.