Improved Corporate Governance Required to Help Reduce Risk and Positively Impact Performance for MENA Companies

June 4th 2013, Yahoo Finance

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GrowthGate Capital has published for the fourth consecutive year its White Paper on Private Equity in MENA in conjunction with Harvard Business School faculty members (MBA Class of 2013) and under the supervision of Professor Josh Lerner, the Jacob H Schiff professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School.

GrowthGate Capital has initiated and contributed to this White Paper as part of its commitment to raising the educational awareness of the Private Equity (PE) industry that benefits a whole community of LPs, GPs, regulators, professionals, advisers, academics and other practitioners interested in this subject.

 This year’s White Paper which is entitled: “Doing Well While Acting Good” addresses the topic of good corporate governance and its direct correlation to good corporate performance globally, and more specifically, in the context of the MENA region. The study reviews the various stages of development that corporate governance has witnessed and continues to face in the regional legal and corporate frameworks. Continue reading…

TAG-College and IFC Sign Cooperation Agreement in Corporate Governance

by Arabian Business, March 15, 2010.

A cooperation agreement between Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business– the first college of its kind to represent a partnership between the private and the public sectors in the Arab world and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a member of the World Bank Group, was signed today at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business (TAG-College).

The two parties agreed to cooperate in the delivery of corporate governance training in Jordan and some Arab countries.

Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of  Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) said “The project will provide corporate governance training to trainees in Jordan and the region according to international standards.”

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his happiness and satisfaction with the agreement stating “We are very happy to cooperate with IFC and hopefully we will continue working in the future in other fields.”

Meanwhile, IFC’s Resident Representative and Head of Mission in Jordan Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga said “IFC is delighted to cooperate with Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Professional Training Academy in this important and vital area, which will develop best standards in corporate governance for the private sector in the Region.”

The Bank Governance training program is designed for board chairs, board members, directors, senior executive officers, and top management of banks and financial institutions in the MENA region…(continue reading)

Hawkamah and CISI Hold Joint Seminar on New UAE Corporate Governance Code

by Eye of Dubai, January 29, 2010.

The Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), the professional body for practitioners in the securities and investment industry, today held a joint seminar in Abu Dhabi to discuss the new UAE Corporate Governance Code.

The simenar provided a platform to discuss the new corporate governance law for UAE publicly listed companies, which will come into force in April 2010. The Code will apply to public joint stock companies established in the UAE and companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX) and Dubai Finance Market (DFM) and to their Board of Directors.

Key speakers at the event included Maryam Al-Suwaidi, Deputy CEO for Legal Affairs, Securities & Commodities Authority; Peter King, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Mangees LLP; and Nick Nadal, Director, Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance…(continue reading)

Fourth Annual Hawkamah-OECD Annual Conference reinforces importance of corporate governance enforcement in the MENA region

by AMEinfo, November 9, 2009.

The Fourth Annual Hawkamah-OECD Conference – The Institute of Corporate Governance, which began today in Dubai emphasised the vital importance of creating a culture of corporate governance compliance and enforcement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Delivering the welcoming remarks at the conference, Dr. Nasser Saidi, Executive Director of Hawkamah said:

“It is one thing to have regulations issued, it is quite another to have them implemented. Let us not forget that the financial crisis stemmed from markets where the corporate governance codes were the most advanced, but evidently not complied with. The challenge for us here in the MENA now is to create a culture of enforcement and compliance. Indeed non-compliance should be punished. Increasingly, the focus of corporate governance reform in the MENA now needs to be on effective implementation.”…(continue reading)