Event: Sustainable corporate governance for long term business success

This event brought together board members, investors, and regulators from across Europe to discuss the role we all have to play in fostering an ecosystem that promotes long-term sustainable success for the benefit of relevant stakeholders in a business and society at large. 

During the session, held on 19 January 2021, participants had the choice of attending panel discussions from the perspectives of boards, investors, and regulators on the following topics:  

Panel 1: The possible changes to the regulatory system expected in the 2020s at the national and European level. 

• Hosted by:
  • Dr Roger Barker - Director of Policy and Corporate Governance, Institute of Directors UK.
  • Jean Luc Barlet - Group Chief Compliance Officer at Forvis Mazars (FR).
• Speakers:
  • A representative of the Justice department of the European Commission.
  • Per Lekvall (SE) – associate member and former executive director of the Swedish Corporate Governance Board. Acted as head secretary of the Governmental Commission on Business Confidence and its sub-commission The Code Group, which developed the Swedish Corporate Governance Code.
  • Mathilde Mesnard  (FR) - Deputy Director of the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs of the OECD.
  • Sir Jon Thompson (UK) – CEO of the Financial Reporting Council in the UK.

Click here to watch the recording 

Panel 2: What is the right board structure to tackle key challenges, including climate change, the impact of technology, effects of Covid-19, tensions in free trade, and diversity.

• Hosted by:
  • Michel de Fabiani -Chair of Policy Committee ecoDa and Non-Executive Director for Ebtrans and Valco.
  • Anthony Carey  - Partner responsible for Board Effectiveness.
• Speakers:
  • Pascal Durand Barthez (FR) – Member of the Policy Committee of ecoDa, Advocat member of the Paris bar, specialised in corporate law and governance matters (in house and practice cousel).
  • Jock Lennox (UK) - Chair of Audit Committee Chair’s Independent Forum, NED and Audit Committee Chair (Barratt Developments plc).
  • Maria Pierdicchi (IT) – President Nedcommunity , Non executive Board member of Unicredit and  Autogrill.
  • Monica de Virgiliis (FR) – Non-Executive Director ASM and Geodis, Chair of Sustainability Committee Prysmian Group, Chair of Chapter Zero France.

Click here to watch the recording

Panel 3: The changes expected in investors’ focus over the next decade, and how this will impact their approach to governance.

• Hosted by:
  • Fabrice Demarigny - President Forvis Mazars Société d'Avocats, with particular expertise in EU Financial Markets Law.
  • Marco Becht - Founder Member and the Executive Director of the European Corporate Governance Institute Professor of Finance at Université Libre de Bruxelles.
• Speakers:
  • Dr Hans-Christophe Hirt (UK) – EOS at Federated Hermes Investment Management, Executive Director, Head of EOS.
  • Paul Koster (NL) - CEO at the VEB (Dutch Shareholders Association) VEB, Chair of European Investors.
  • Valerio Novembre (IT) – Senior Policy Officer at European Securities and Markets Authority – ESMA.
  • Hendrik Schmidt (DE) – Corporate Governance expert DWS Investment GmbH, Member of Corporate Governance Working Group BVI German Investment Funds Association, Member of stewardship and governance committee The Investment Association (UK).

Click here to watch the recording

This event marks the completion of a joint study Forvis Mazars published with ecoDa earlier in 2020, ‘Time for sustainability to be at the heart of business’, which discusses a range of measures needed to bring about necessary change to put sustainability at the heart of business for the long-term benefit of business and wider society.