The ASX Corporate Governance Council has been at pains to emphasise to the market that the framework is not a “one size fits all” approach to corporate governance, but a model against which companies can assess their current practices and assess whether they need to move forward.  In simple terms, the principles work on the basis that is okay not to adopt a recommendation, as long as sufficient disclosure is made to enable investors to assess whether the company has an alternative mechanism which addresses the spirit of the principles, or alternatively is deliberately taking a strategy of non-compliance.  The theory is investors will make their own mind up.

 So what does all this mean?  Well three things really:

• Great governance should be common sense
• Great governance shouldn’t be difficult to implement
• You shouldn’t have to spend large sums of money on compling or writing disclosure statements.

Our offering is really simple and is aimed at small and mid-cap companies:

• We’ll tell you quickly whether you comply already - and make sure you get credit for what’s already in place
• In the areas where you don’t comply, we’ll see if you already have mechanisms which address the spirit of the principles - again making sure you get credit for being a well governed organisation
• If you don’t comply and don’t have a good mechanism, we’ll give you guidance on whether this matters to your company, to the market and what easy and quick solutions are available to you.
• In rare cases when the answer isn’t a simple one, we’ll give you the answers straight and steer you to a cost effective path.

There are many quick wins in this area, and we’ll make sure you’re across them.

Why TDA?

Todd Davies has been a practitioner representative on the ASX Corporate Governance Council since shortly after the first principles and recommendations were released and was a member of the working group on Principle 7 (Recognise and Manage Risk).  He has deliberately positioned himself as a pragmatist on the group with a sense of how to make the principles useful in practice, and practical to implement.

Perhaps more importantly, Todd believes that this should be an area which common sense prevails and not one where consultants generate large fees.  We encourage you to hold us to that!

Thanks to everyone who attended the Canberra meeting, it was great bunch of people with some great questions and discussion and a relaxed format. 

There was a particular interest in what this will mean to other sectors.  While it’s difficult to predict in detail, I’d suggest that the one to watch is the new recommendation 7.2.  The crux of the wording of this is that rather than just going through a process, management now need to form a view on whether their risks are being effectively managed and report this through to the Board.  This means that risk management can no longer suffice as a standalone process, but must be truly embedded into the governance processes of the organisation, and that due diligence will have to be done on the output of any risk process.  As I found in my last head of audit & risk role, such a signoff requires significant gear changes in thinking to make it effective and relevant.  It’s going to be an exciting time for risk management for those people on the front foot.

Download the presentation here:
Updated ASX Corporate Governance Principles & Guidelines

If you are looking for assistance with compliance with the Principles & Recommendations, please click here.

Strategy, risk, governance and assurance

“Corporate governance, sustainability and strategy have become inseparable.  They are inextricably linked.” Mervyn E. King

A lot of firms specialise in strategy, risk, governance or assurance, but few seem to bring them all together. In everything TDA does, we bring the other disciplines to it, whether using risk management to underpin delivery of your strategy, or getting strategic alignment with these areas.

Please click on a link below to find out more.

Governance & Leadership

• Enterprise Governance - getting everyone on the same page
• Enterprise Resilience - positioning for prosperity in the face of dramatic change
• Compliance with the ASX Corporate Governance Council Principles and Recommendations

Strategy

• Relevance regained – strategic planning for NGOs
• Emerging Risk Analysis - seeing what’s around the corner before it hits

Risk & Assurance

• Fine tuning your Internal Audit function - Internal Audit transformation & quality reviews
• Getting the most out of internal audit sourcing - outsourcing, cosourcing and partnering
• Navigating the GRC maze - understanding GRC solutions and software selection
• Getting what was promised - project assurance and project risk management