Standard Chartered, the banking group, has overhauled its boardroom structures in an effort to improve its corporate governance.
The bank is going to split a board committee that covers audit and risk issues into two new bodies. A risk committee will oversee the management of the bank’s key prudential risks and will review the effectiveness of its risk-management framework, while an audit committee monitors the integrity of the bank’s financial reporting, compliance, and internal control environment.
The changes follow an internal governance review that ran throughout 2009. The bank said that its existing board structures were highly effective, but the changes “will reinforce the highest standards of corporate governance.”
Creation of the new committees will bring the bank into line with the recommendations of the U.K.’s Walker Review of financial sector governance, which called on banks to create board-level committees to oversee risk management.
The bank has also widened the remit of its existing Sustainability and Responsibility Committee. This will now cover oversight and review of the bank’s brand positioning, reputational risk, culture, and values, as well as broader sustainability, ethical, and social legitimacy issues.
"Strong corporate governance is essential for delivering sustainable shareholder value and as a leading international bank, we are at the forefront of corporate governance," said John Peace, chairman of Standard Chartered.
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