Southeast Europe Corporate Governance of Banks High Level Policy Meeting

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Global Corporate Governance Forum and the IFC Advisory Services in ECA, organized a two-day meeting on corporate governance of banks in Southeast Europe to help improve the transparency and accountability of the sector in the region. The event was held in Belgrade on December 9 and 10, 2009.

The objective of the meeting was to help the countries in the region develop action plans and specific policy recommendation to improve the governance of banks. The meeting was attended by more than 70 banking regulators and practitioners from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

“This meeting is an important step towards establishing improved standards of business conduct in the region. Building consensus among financial institutions on the need to adopt better standards is the key for enhancing the standards for all companies”, said Gian Piero Cigna, Senior Counsel at the EBRD.

Southeast European countries have been hit hard by the global financial crisis. Discussions on innovative solutions how to weather the crisis and policy responses are on the top of national agendas all over the region. This has put a renewed spot light on the governance of banks.

“Given the prevailing role of banking institutions as a source of finance in Southeast Europe, it is of the utmost importance to improve the governance of banks,” said Philip Armstrong, Head of the Global Corporate Governance Forum. “Moreover, banks are in a unique position to influence the corporate governance of their corporate borrowers. They can become role models for other companies in implementing high standards and best practices.”

The conclusions from the meeting in Belgrade will be used to develop a series of policy recommendations on the governance of banks in Southeast Europe, which will be further discussed by the regional working group and finalized at the second meeting in late 2010 to be held at EBRD Headquarters.

The event is co-sponsored by IFC, EBRD, Global Corporate Governance Forum and the governments of Luxemburg, Austria and Switzerland.

For more information, please contact Marie-Laurence Guy at mguy@ifc.org

Additional information:

Agenda

Speakers Biographies

Presentations

Corporate governance of banks

• Presentation One by Catherine Lawton, Director, EMEA Corporate Governance Consulting, Nestor Advisors
• Presentation Two by Prof. David Beatty, Rotman School of Business - University of Toronto, Chairman of the Risk Review Committee and Executive & Governance Committees of Bank of Montreal, PSAG Member

Corporate governance lessons from the financial crisis by Hans Christiansen, Senior Economist, Corporate Affairs, OECD

EU Trends and best practice by Ian Radcliffe, Director, Training & Consultancy, World Savings Banks Institute - European Savings Banks Group

Supervision and enforcement of good practice by Radovan Jelašic, Governor, National Bank of Serbia

Corporate governance of banks in Southeast Europe

• Presentation by Kiyoshi Nishimura, Acting Director Western Balkans, Financial Institution Department, EBRD
• Case Study: Nova Bank - Bosnia& Herzegovina by Dragan Dzinic, Legal Advisor, Nova Bank

Priorities for reform in Southeast Europe

• Presentation by Christian Strenger, Director DWS Investment, Member of the German Corporate Governance Commission, and Deputy Chairman of PSAG
• Case Study: Corporate Commercial Bank - Bulgaria by Prof. Bistra Boeva, Professor, University of National and World Economy, Member of PSAG and Member of the European Corporate Governance Forum