Premji clears stand to boost staff morale
Wipro chairman Azim Premji has defended the technology giant’s past dealings with the World Bank, stating that the company was entirely right from the legal and the ethical standpoint.
By ET Bureau |
BANGALORE: Wipro chairman Azim Premji has defended the technology giant���s past dealings with the World Bank, stating that the company was entirely right from the legal and the ethical standpoint. The bank has barred Wipro from future contracts as the software company awarded shares to the bank staff in 2000, as part of its American Depository Share (ADS) issue programme.
Seeking to reassure employees across the company, Mr Premji said in his missive to them: ���Wipro offered a commonly utilised and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-approved Directed Share Programme (DSP) that allowed employees and clients to purchase ADSs at the IPO market price.���
He said that the objective was to involve employees and customers with the public offering to expand the company���s recognition and brand. ���A majority of the shares sold under DSP were allotted to our employees. All participants signed a conflict of interest statement that their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company,��� said the statement.
Wipro had offered the World Bank, through its chief information officer (CIO) under DSP, 1,750 shares which was purchased for around $72,000, approved by the US SEC.
However, the World Bank revised its policy of disclosure norms and resulted in the names being made public. Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said that given the current environment they felt it was better to disclose the matter.
���We have always prided ourselves for setting the highest standards of business ethics in our dealings with all our stakeholders. We have built a strong culture that upholds compliance in letter and spirit. The approach was no different in this instance also. We believe what we did was right and we did it in the right manner, ��� said Mr Premji���s letter.
Seeking to reassure employees across the company, Mr Premji said in his missive to them: ���Wipro offered a commonly utilised and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-approved Directed Share Programme (DSP) that allowed employees and clients to purchase ADSs at the IPO market price.���
He said that the objective was to involve employees and customers with the public offering to expand the company���s recognition and brand. ���A majority of the shares sold under DSP were allotted to our employees. All participants signed a conflict of interest statement that their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company,��� said the statement.
Wipro had offered the World Bank, through its chief information officer (CIO) under DSP, 1,750 shares which was purchased for around $72,000, approved by the US SEC.
However, the World Bank revised its policy of disclosure norms and resulted in the names being made public. Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said that given the current environment they felt it was better to disclose the matter.
���We have always prided ourselves for setting the highest standards of business ethics in our dealings with all our stakeholders. We have built a strong culture that upholds compliance in letter and spirit. The approach was no different in this instance also. We believe what we did was right and we did it in the right manner, ��� said Mr Premji���s letter.
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