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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Louise Pocock provides some tips on how a board can help management strike a balance between short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
An effective board will generally adopt strategies that manage and strike a balance between short-, medium- and long-term horizons. That is, it will pay att...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
In her final column, Belinda Gibson outlines what ASIC is doing to uphold Australia’s market integrity.
It has been my privilege to contribute to this magazine for over five years, but this will be the last, as my term as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy ch...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Peter Pearce
dispels some modern myths to help directors and their organisations embark on an ethical journey.
Ethics is the essential but too often silent ingredient in corporate governance, risk and compliance (GRC) efforts. For directors and boards, GRC and a whole lot else will alwa...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Many not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, were heading into a "perfect storm", if they weren’t already in it. That was the view of Dr John Harte FAICD, the founder and principal of Integrity Governance, when addressing the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ NFP Forum:13 in Sydney last month –...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Listed companies have jumped many hurdles to improve their executive pay practices and avoid falling foul of the "two-strikes" law. Now, as Domini Stuart reports, a new wave of pay reforms are heading their way.
The second reporting season since the introduction of the "two-strikes" rule l...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Professor Bob Baxt reviews some recent court cases that highlight the importance of ensuring your companies have a proper culture of compliance in place.
Directors, senior managers and officers of companies in Australia (referred to as directors here) are, of course, very familiar with spec...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
1949 - 2013
The Australian Institute of Company Directors was saddened to hear of the death of Dr Chris Peters AM FAICDLife in Canberra in late February.
Peters was a life fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, having been recognised for his service to the organisati...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Tony Featherstone believes we should give listed companies greater confidence about when to disclose price-sensitive information to the market rather than looking for temporary solutions.
No one doubts the need for a well-informed share market and giving listed companies more flexibility ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Peter Kell discusses ASIC’s approach to complaints of misconduct and disputes between officeholders or members of small companies.
Setting up a business with other people is not too different from getting married. Mostly it works and sometimes it’s blissful. But often there are arguments...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Michael Tooma outlines the lessons Australian directors can learn from New Zealand’s Pike River Mine disaster that killed 29 miners in November 2010.
At one level, the New Zealand report, Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy, reads like so many reports before it – another ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Professor Bob Baxt explains how the courts are getting tougher on “white collar” crime and advises directors to ensure they understand their legal obligations, especially the prohibitions against insider trading.
There is little doubt that increasing focus is being placed on the performan...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Is your organisation prepared for an unexpected crisis? Domini Stuart discovers what’s best practice in disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
Thirty years ago, disaster recovery and business continuity plans (DR/BCPs) were little more than insurance policies. Decisions were ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Fiona Baron talks to father-and-son team and well-known directors from Cairns, George and Ken Chapman, about their views on directorships and what it takes to make a family business work.
George Chapman AO FAICD is every bit the entrepreneur. Back in the 1960s, at just 23 years old, he la...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Once Australia’s most senior public servant, Professor Peter Shergold is now enjoying new challenges as a professional director. He talks to Zilla Efrat about leaving the public sector, the strengths public servants can bring to boards and how business and government can better understand each other...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
John M Green applauds our corporate regulator’s successes on insider trading.
Back in the Wild West, before the global financial crisis (GFC), insider trading and market manipulation were thought rampant. But not today, thanks to the efforts of the Australian Securities and Investments Co...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Greg Medcraft explains why the audit profession needs to lift its game to avoid government-imposed reforms in Australia.
Directors and auditors are two of the financial sector’s most important gatekeepers that play a crucial role in ensuring investors can be confident and informed.
Th...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Professor Bob Baxt summarises the messages sent by the NSW Court of Appeal in its recent judgment on penalties for James Hardie’s former directors.
On Sunday evening 11 November 2012, the eve of the New South Wales Court of Appeal penalty decision in Gilfillan v ASIC [2012] NSWCA 370 invo...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
Andrew Griffiths identifies some of the key challenges audit and risk committees may face in 2013.
As continuing economic volatility converges with sweeping regulatory change and an expanded focus on financial reporting, directors on audit and risk committees are likely to experience even...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
Some of the key highlights and policy priorities that shaped our agenda throughout 2013.
As 2012 draws to a close, I thought it appropriate to review some of the key highlights and policy priorities that have shaped our agenda throughout the past year. These priorities are selected for a ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
As the leadership baton passes from one generation to the next, economist Qu Hongbin discusses China’s shifting economic reform agenda.
The year of the snake kicks off with big changes within the upper echelons of Australia’s biggest trading partner.
In November, following its week-lo...