OREANDA-NEWS. The EBRD and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) held the first conference on “Corporate Governance of Banks” on 17 May in Tbilisi at the Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel, reported the press-centre of EBRD.


As a major lender and investor to financial institutions the EBRD is advocating corporate governance standards in its countries of operations, the principles that regulate the relationship between shareholders, board, management and other constituencies of a company. The conference was chaired by Irakli Kovzanadze, the Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Georgian parliament, and assembled experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The objective of the seminar was to discuss the enhancement of corporate governance in banks and the effective enforcement of existing norms as well as the development of a set of recommendations on this key issue.


To foster the recent success in economic development, especially the growth of the banking sector, in the region, further strengthening of the corporate governance principles and establishing an irreversible trend is of high priority, said Mr Kovzanadze. “Sound corporate governance practices are a cornerstone for attracting investments” Emmanuel Maurice, General Counsel of the EBRD, pointed out. In the “Eurasia” region the banking sector is one of the most advanced, well-organised industries, and it is essential that high corporate governance standards are developed and implemented, said Irakli Managadze, EBRD Senior Policy Advisor, adding that strong corporate governance practices are directly related to the "sound banking principles" that EBRD is promoting through its operations.


Improving corporate governance in banks is now considered to be one of the top priorities in many countries around the world, and more people in the emerging economies are joining discussions, said Motoyuki Yufu, OECD Principal Administrator. “We hope that the seminar will support and enhance national efforts on bank governance in the countries of Eurasia”.


The EBRD’s participation in the initiative is sponsored by the Early Transition Countries (ETC) Multi-Donor Fund to which Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China and the United Kingdom have contributed. The EBRD’s ETC Initiative, launched in April 2004, includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Using a streamlined approach to financing medium scale private sector enterprises, the initiative is aimed at mobilising more investment and encouraging economic reform.