corporate governance 1

BSc Finance and Accounting Professional Accountant Assignment Part 1 Different countries have adopted different approaches to corporate governance. The UK has a principles-based approach whilst other countries have moved more towards a rules-based system and others have a mixture of both. a) Compare and contrast the UK approach to that that of one other country clearly demonstrating the rationale for each approach and giving examples of successes and failures of those systems. (30 marks) b) What lessons can the UK learn from other jurisdictions about ways to improve our own system? (20 marks) Part 2 'As part of their role as members of a unitary board, non-executive directors should constructively challenge and help develop proposals on strategy. Non-executive directors should scrutinise the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and monitor the reporting of performance. They should satisfy themselves on the integrity of financial information and that financial controls and systems of risk management are robust and defensible. They are responsible for determining appropriate levels of remuneration of executive directors and have a prime role in appointing, and where necessary removing, executive directors, and in succession planning.' UK Corporate Governance Code (2012) a) Do you feel that this definition correctly summarises the role of NED’s in UK business? Give examples of where NED’s have failed in one or more of these roles. (25 marks) b) Institutional investors have been described as “absentee landlords” in their approach to corporate governance because they have consistently failed to intervene in the management of companies that they hold a stake in. Is this statement generally true or are institutions actively promoting good governance in business. (25 marks) In both questions illustrate your answers with examples from recent business practice Word count 2500 Learning Outcomes 3 Evaluate the role of the accountant in organizational corporate governance 6 Formulate problems to be solved and define the information/data required to analyse them.