Annual Rep. 2008-09.pmd - The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.

efo v³et Fefv[³ee SM³eesjvme kebÀ. efue.The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.Estbd. 1919Directors’ Reportmaintain its leading business position as the largest direct insurer in India despite increased competitionfrom private companies. It also envisages that the Company will remain under pressure due to thesignificant exposure of its Investment in the domestic equity market.XXVII.CORPORATE GOVERNANCECorporate Governance is the philosophy, discipline system and procedure of financial and other controlsin a corporate entity that ensures that business is carried out in a just and equitable manner with theaim of improving shareholders’ value. The corporate governance has acquired immense accent inrecent times and much emphasis has been focused on good governance of a business entity. In caseof Insurance business, safeguarding interest of the policyholders demands in place good governancepractices for maintenance of solvency, sound long-term investment policy and assumption of underwritingrisk on a prudential basis to create confidence among policyholders, investors and shareholders andthe public.The Board of Directors is responsible for good governance of the company and places a high degree ofimportance on applying the high standard of business integrity and professionalism and maintainingsound control systems at all levels of the Company’s activities. The Board is committed to have in placean effective system of corporate governance and ensuring conduct of business in accordance withgenerally accepted principles and best practices of Corporate Governance and business ethics.The Company is following the best Corporate Governance practices. Details of the Board and its SubCommittees are given below :(i)Board of DirectorsNew India’s Board consists of a perfect blend of experts from the fields of insurance, banking andfinance. The Company has seven directors at present. The details are given below :Sl. No. Name and Designation of Directors Category of Directorship1. Mr. B. Chakrabarti, Chairman-cum-Managing DirectorChairman-cum-Managing Director2. Mr. Tarun Bajaj, I.A.S. Non-executive DirectorJoint Secretary (Banking & Insurance),Ministry of Finance, Government of India.3. Mr. T. S. Narayanasami, Chairman & Ex-officio Director (Ceased to beManaging Director, Bank of India. Director w.e.f. 20 th October 2008)4. Mr. M.D. Mallya, Chairman & Managing Director, Ex-officio DirectorBank of Baroda. (w.e.f. 20 th October 2008)5. Mr. M. Razzack, Chartered Accountant Part time non-official Director6 Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Chartered Accountant Part time non-official Director7. Mr. Sarat Pattanayak, Social Worker Part time non-official Director8. Mr. N.S.R. Chandra Prasad, General Manager Whole-time Director (Ceased tobe Director w.e.f. 4 th June 2009)9. Mr. A. R. Sekar, General Manager, Whole-time DirectorFinancial Advisor & Company Secretary28