PwC's Managing upstream risk: Regulatory reform review - An asian perspective November 2013 | Page 9

2.4 Corporate Governance

North Asia

Over 5 – 6 November 2013, the ACGA held
its 13th Annual Conference in Seoul with
the theme “Corporate Sustainability and
Responsible Investment in North Asia”. The
event was supported by the Korea Exchange
and Korea Corporate Governance Service and
highlighted the following topics:

• ow are firms addressing areas of weakness,
H
for example in supply-chain management
and disclosure on corporate governance
(which is relatively minimal compared
to detailed environmental and social
reporting); and
• The best strategies for investors for effective
interaction, taking into account the different
legal, cultural and political conditions across
the region.

• Corporate governance developments in
North Asia since the late 1990s and key
improvements and comparing reforms with
other parts of the world;
• Korea’s unique governance structures and
practices, assessing the extent to which these
have helped the chaebol compete effectively
against the best global firms;
• Threat of geopolitical dynamics pose to the
region’s continued economic prosperity;
• Domestic investors’ view on the governance
of listed companies in Korea and what they
see as the main areas of progress vs. ongoing
risk;
• Whether companies have the right to choose
their own Corporate Governance systems;
• The ramifications of the new Xi Jinping
leadership for capital market development
in China, the environmental, social and
governance (ESG) risks that foreign portfolio
investors should be aware of when investing
in mainland state and private firms; and the
challenges facing foreign direct investors in
managing joint ventures;
• Global investors’ measure the governance
quality of Asian firms and what major risks
are they trying to avoid;
• Main ongoing obstacles to eff