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Strategies and Balance<br />
20<br />
A starting point for <strong>this</strong> discussion – I think it<br />
was phrased <strong>this</strong> way in the first session – is that<br />
corporate governance can be considered a “risk<br />
fac<strong>to</strong>r” if we frame it as such, but we need <strong>to</strong> be<br />
careful. <strong>The</strong> question you might ask is whether<br />
good corporate governance creates value.<br />
You might expect that, given <strong>this</strong> is what I do<br />
for a living, I would be a strong advocate for the<br />
proposition that good corporate governance does<br />
create value. But I have <strong>to</strong> be honest and say<br />
that it is not clear empirically. One has <strong>to</strong> be<br />
careful with regard <strong>to</strong> codes and prescriptive formulae<br />
that ostensibly produce good governance.<br />
We actually do look at academic literature as well<br />
as other evidence, and frankly, the empirical evidence<br />
about corporate governance and specific<br />
tactics <strong>to</strong> promote good governance is still developing.<br />
I have heard Colin Mayer say on several occasions<br />
that governance is something about which<br />
there are many opinions, but fewer facts, and I<br />
think we need <strong>to</strong> keep that in mind when we are<br />
starting <strong>to</strong> think about the individual pieces <strong>of</strong><br />
code.<br />
If you look at the recent Centre for European<br />
Policy Studies document that came out in<br />
February 2005, <strong>this</strong> point is emphasised<br />
as well, citing a number <strong>of</strong> academic<br />
studies looking at individual<br />
pieces <strong>of</strong> governance (codes <strong>of</strong> practice).<br />
<strong>The</strong>y reach a fairly agnostic<br />
opinion about many <strong>of</strong> the specific<br />
components that comprise individual<br />
codes. Notwithstanding the potential<br />
<strong>to</strong> be agnostic about wholesale prescriptive<br />
solutions for governance, it<br />
remains important <strong>to</strong> understand<br />
the extent <strong>to</strong> which management or<br />
governance issues might be strengths<br />
or weakness influencing a company’s<br />
strategic position or risk pr<strong>of</strong>ile.<br />
Indeed, in the “enhanced analytics<br />
initiative” we see in the city <strong>of</strong><br />
London and elsewhere, the driving<br />
objective is <strong>to</strong> use new approaches <strong>to</strong><br />
research <strong>to</strong> better understand <strong>of</strong><br />
qualitative “non financial” fac<strong>to</strong>rs and how these<br />
affect the interest <strong>of</strong> financial stakeholders.<br />
To return <strong>to</strong> the second point, we may not<br />
know whether good corporate governance can<br />
increase value, but I think we know from some <strong>of</strong><br />
the cases that were cited in the first session<br />
<strong>to</strong>day, bad corporate governance certainly can<br />
destroy value. This is something we need <strong>to</strong> pay<br />
more attention <strong>to</strong>. I think the challenge is how<br />
these so-called “s<strong>of</strong>t fac<strong>to</strong>rs” relating <strong>to</strong> governance<br />
and trust can be systematically, objectively,<br />
and meaningfully assessed and fac<strong>to</strong>red in <strong>to</strong><br />
investment process, whether its an equity<br />
inves<strong>to</strong>r looking at the notion <strong>of</strong> an the equity<br />
premium or perhaps how that should effect the<br />
discount rate with which one discounts the anticipated<br />
future earning <strong>of</strong> cash flows. For a debt<br />
holder or credit analysts the question is how governance<br />
fac<strong>to</strong>rs might affect a credit rating, decisions<br />
about credit risk spreads, or lending decisions<br />
in general. Another important community,<br />
<strong>of</strong> course, is the insurance world, as it deals with<br />
the level <strong>of</strong> premiums and the terms and conditions<br />
that relate <strong>to</strong> the important area <strong>of</strong><br />
Direc<strong>to</strong>rs and Officers liability insurance.<br />
This area <strong>of</strong> governance analysis is challenging,<br />
and in some ways it is like trying <strong>to</strong> put a<br />
cloud in<strong>to</strong> a bottle, but I see it as a gauntlet that<br />
has been thrown down <strong>to</strong> us <strong>to</strong> try <strong>to</strong> do a better<br />
job <strong>of</strong> looking at these fac<strong>to</strong>rs more systematically<br />
then we have done in the past. While I am not<br />
here <strong>to</strong> talk about what S&P is doing per se, we<br />
are typical <strong>of</strong> many institutional inves<strong>to</strong>rs and<br />
research groups who are trying <strong>to</strong> develop<br />
stronger <strong>to</strong>ols in <strong>this</strong> area. In <strong>this</strong> regard, we<br />
have established a stand-alone corporate governance<br />
rating system. We have been working with<br />
the system for several years now, mostly in the<br />
emerging markets, in part because <strong>this</strong> is a voluntary<br />
process. We do <strong>this</strong> working <strong>to</strong>gether<br />
with the company – I will talk about the interactive<br />
and clinical dimensions <strong>of</strong> <strong>this</strong> and why <strong>this</strong><br />
non-“tick the box” approach is absolutely essential.<br />
We are doing <strong>this</strong> largely in emerging markets<br />
because emerging-market companies are<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten presumed guilty <strong>of</strong> bad governance by<br />
virtue <strong>of</strong> the fact that they are operating in countries<br />
with bad reputations; they are looking in<br />
many cases for some way <strong>to</strong> differentiate themselves<br />
from their peers and <strong>to</strong> demonstrate that<br />
their governance standards may be better than<br />
others’.<br />
Our governance rating service, quite honestly,<br />
is less well developed in more developed mar-