Corporate Governance

The terms

• Accountability

  Accountability is the obligation to answer for decisions, actions and results, and to accept consequences, to a person or body with the right to ask. It cannot be fully handed to someone else.

  Domain: Governance

• Agency Problem

  The agency problem arises when one party, the agent, acts for another, the principal, but has different interests and more information. In companies, managers may pursue their own goals rather than shareholders' interests.

  Domain: Governance

• Annual General Meeting (AGM)

  An annual general meeting is the yearly meeting where shareholders receive the accounts, vote on matters such as electing directors, appointing the auditor and pay policy, and question the board.

  Domain: Governance

• Corporate Governance Code

  A corporate governance code is a set of recommended board and company practices, issued by a regulator, exchange or professional body, usually applied on a comply or explain basis.

  Domain: Governance

• Executive Compensation

  Executive compensation is the total pay of a company's senior leaders, made up of salary, bonuses, share awards, pensions and benefits, designed to attract talent and link rewards to performance and risk.

  Domain: Governance

• Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)

  Governance, risk and compliance is the joined-up management of how an organisation is directed, how it handles risk and how it meets laws, rules and its own policies, using shared processes and information.

  Domain: Governance

• Minority Shareholder Protection

  Minority shareholder protection covers the laws and practices that stop controlling shareholders and managers from using their power to take value from smaller investors or treat them unfairly.

  Domain: Governance

• Transparency

  Transparency is the practice of making decisions, rules, performance and risks visible to people with a legitimate interest, so they can understand and question what an organisation or public body does.

  Domain: Governance