Corporate Governance Mechanisms

1076 Words5 Pages
Economists have long known that conflicts of interest can arise in the direction and control of firms. The main problem of corporate governance is the so called 'agency problem' which takes place because of the separation of ownership and control. The shareholders leave their money and other assets in the custody of the managers; there is always a concern of whether the managers will manage these assets. Agency theory by far, the most significant approach to corporate governance is specifically concerned with devising efficacious solutions to the agency problem (Thomson & Conyon, 2012). In the next section a brief description of the common mechanism of governance is highlighted. Then the use of audit report lag as a proxy of the financial reporting…show more content…
Corporate Governance Mechanisms In his Report of the Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, Cadbury (1992) defined the corporate governance as "the system which directs and controls firms. Boards of directors are accountable for the governance of their firms. The shareholders’ role in governance is to employ both the auditors and the directors". The responsibilities of the board include setting the firm’s strategic goals, providing the leadership to put them into supervising the management of the business and reporting to shareholders on their management. The board’s action depends on regulations, laws and shareholders in general meeting. The auditor's role is to supply the shareholders with an objective and external inspect on the directors’ financial statements which form the foundation of that reporting system. The objective of the audit Committee is to raise the standards of corporate governance and the level of confidence in financial auditing and reporting by indicating obviously what it sees as the respective liabilities of those involved and what it believes is expected of…show more content…
All the directors have the same responsibility in law for the board’s decisions and actions. Non-executive directors have significant contributions to the governance process as a result of their independence of executive responsibility. The chairman' role should be detached from the chief executive and if the two roles are done by one person, it will represent an important concentration of power. If the chairman is the chief executive too, the board members should employ a senior non-executive director, who might be the deputy chairman, as the person to whom they should address any solicitude about the combined office of chairman/chief-executive and its outcomes for the efficacy of the board. The main role of the firm's chairman is to secure good corporate governance. Chairmen should stand sufficiently back from the day-to-day running of the business to assure that the boards are in full control of the firm’s affairs and alert to their commitments to their
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