OREANDA-NEWS. November 23, 2007. The First National Forum of Corporate Secretaries took place in Moscow on November 16, 2007. The forum was devoted to practical issues confronting the corporate secretary and to prospects for improving corporate laws and regulations in this important area. Olga Strakhova, Corporate Secretary at Bank Electronika and member of the Club of Corporate Secretaries of the Association of Independent Directors, took part in the forum.

The forum was conducted by the National Council on Corporate Governance, the Association of Independent Directors, and the journal The Joint-Stock Company: Questions of Corporate Governance.

Participants discussed the experience of institutionalizing the position of corporate secretary in Russian companies and the practical aspects of working as specialists in corporate governance.

During the forum, a presentation was made on qualifications for the corporate secretary. These were recently brought into the Reference Manual of Qualifications for Management Positions of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation. Forum attendees also heard a presentation of the new version of the chapter “The Corporate Secretary” in the Code of Corporate Conduct of the Federal Service for Financial Markets. The task force on corporate law and legislation of the National Council on Corporate Governance had prepared the revisions.

Participants in the forum for corporate secretaries supported an initiative to establish an Association of Corporate Secretaries and Specialists in Corporate Governance of Companies.