Codes and Standards of Corporate Governance

The code of corporate governance contains guidelines for companies on how to strengthen their governance. Corporate scandals of various magnitudes have maintained public and political interest in the regulation of corporate governance worldwide. Corporate governance issues have received of late serious attention globally. Several committees have been set up by stock exchanges; other statutory authorities and chambers of commerce have issued reports suggesting measures to strengthen corporate governance practices all over the world. At an international level, the first committee was the Cadbury Committee on the Financial Aspect of Corporate Governance. Others include the Greenbury Report, the Hampel Committee, the Smith Report on audit committees (UK), the Higgs Committee, the CalPERS Global Corporate Governance Principles (US), the Blue Ribbon Committee (US), the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, (US), the CACG Guidelines: Principles for Corporate Governance in the Commonwealth, and the UK’s Combined Code of Corporate Governance. Further, close attention has been paid to this issue by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). At a national level, committees such as the Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee, the Naresh Chandra Committee on Corporate Audit and Governance, the N. R. Narayana Murthy Committee, and the J. J. Irani Committee have been formed.