BSE, IFC partner to bring out corporate governance scorecard

MUMBAI: In a bid to boost investor confidence, top stock exchange BSE today partnered with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to develop a scorecard, which will help companies assess their corporate governance performances as compared to national or international benchmarked practices.

The 'Corporate Governance Scorecard' would enable firms to identify areas of further improvement and track progress. It can also be used to make board processes more efficient, improve strategy, aid decision making and manage risks.

"Ultimately corporate governance decides the companies will issue what kind of information to the investors," BSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan told PTI.

"Many times corporates may think that they are doing best in compliances and corporate governance, but with the scorecard you can know where exactly you stand overall vis a vis overall framework. They will get to know how much they are complying and in what time frame," he said.

Chauhan also said the work on scorecard has begun fro, today with IFC holding a workshop.

"Over the next 12 months it will be done in different parts of the country and corporates CFOs and compliance officers will be called and explained the meaning of it and how to measure themselves," he said.

"This familiar framework has given good result in Brazil," he pointed out.

"IFC is involved in strengthening corporate governance worldwide and developing an India-specific scorecard is a step in the right direction," IFC's global manager corporate governance Darrin R Hartzler said.

"It will result in greater transparency among companies, enhancing investor confidence, access to capital, economic development, and growth," Hartzler said.

India is International Finance Corporation's (IFC) top country exposure with committed portfolio of over USD 5 billion as of June 30. In the current fiscal, it has committed USD 1.4 billion in new investments.

In addition to strengthening local capital markets in India, IFC is focused on boosting financing in infrastructure and logistics, promoting financial inclusion, among others.