CENTER NEWS

On June 8, 2009, CBE Chair Matthew Murray gave a presentation at a conference on “The Russian Business Community in Anticorruption Policy: Perspectives for the Future”. This conference was sponsored by the Center for International Private Enterprise, which is conducting a project to provide small to medium size enterprises in Russia’s regions with legal advocacy skills to defend their rights. Mr. Murray’s presentation focused on how Russian business should develop management strategies to address the risks inherent in a rapidly changing regulatory environment.

On March 22, 2009 the Board of Directors met and voted to have Matthew Murray return as Chairman of the CBE. Since April 2007, Mr. Murray has been managing a project on Corruption Risk Managment of TNK-BP in Moscow. The Board members of CBE asked Mr. Murray to return as Chairman starting April 1, 2009.

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Center participated in the publication of Improving Business Standards in Russia.
This publication is the culmination of a six-month programme of Moscow-based round tables on "Corporate Governance in Practice" which was supported by Baker & McKenzie, Ernst & Young and KPMG, and the report has been sponsored by TNK-BP. It was formally presented to the business community at IBLF's Second Russian Business Summit, which was held on 25th June 2007 at the London Stock Exchange.

Board Members Matthew Murray and Jeff Senne (pictured below) attended the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva.

At the opening address of the International Organization of Standardization meeting in September, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, stated: “ISO makes a considerable contribution to the societal dimension of our sustainable development task. The ongoing work to craft an international standard for social responsibility is especially noteworthy in this respect. The United Nations appreciates the effort to involve the Global Compact closely in this process. The recently concluded Global Compact Leaders Summit, which took place here in Geneva in July, highlighted the merit of corporate social responsibility not only as an aim in itself, but as a business enabler.”

Matthew Murray Hired By TNK-BP Management as Corruption Risk Manager
“The Russian oil company, TNK-BP Management, has hired CBE Chairman Matthew H. Murray to fill a new position of Corruption Risk Manager in the Financial Control department. Murray will act as a single point of accountability for implementing the company's Enterprise Wide Risk Management (EWRM) policies and procedures geared towards zero tolerance of corruption.  TNK-BP's EWRM system includes key elements designed to mitigate the risk of corruption, in particular a high-level commitment by the Board of Directors and a clear internal regulatory framework comprising a Code of Business Policies and supporting Corporate Performance Standards. TNK-BP is also the only Russian oil company that has signed the World Economic Forum's “Partnering Against Corruption Initiative”.  Formerly, Murray was president of the US management consultancy Sovereign Ventures, Inc.”
 
More: please see issue of Global Proxy Watch >>>

On May 21, 2007 CBE Board members Ivy Fredericks, Matthew Murray and Jeff Senne attended the “US-Russia Roundtable on Corporate Governance and Cross-Border Investment” sponsored by the Russian National Council on Corporate Governance ( www.nggc.ru ) and hosted at the New York Stock Exchange. The Russian delegation was led by Vladimir Potanin, who chairs the National Council, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, and Igor Yurgens, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The US participants featured Senator Sarbanes, Congressman Oxley and former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Bill Donaldson.

Summary of May 21, 2007 NYSE Conference on Corporate Governance

Russian Capital Markets: Positive and Negative Trends

- Several US and Russian speakers cited positive trends in Russia, including the rapid growth of capital markets and increased interest in adoption of corporate governance practices since the Russian Corporate Governance Code was introduced in 2002.

- Sergei Vasiliev, Chairman of the Committee on Financial Markets of the Federation Council, observed that the Corporate Governance Code , as a voluntary instrument based on market incentives, suits the Russian market well.  This point was echoed by the head of MICEX, who stated that as of 2006 listed companies that desire to obtain an “A” rating from the exchange must adopt and implement the Code .

- Many parties cautioned against introducing new corporate governance laws and regulatory requirements in Russia , arguing that this step would only increase transaction costs.

Despite the positive trends, several speakers drew attention to the following negatives:

- Corporate governance remains narrowly defined in the Russian market. The general trend is to adopt a quantitative rather than qualitative approach.

- Companies should be persuaded to make a strategic commitment to “mainstream” corporate governance and adopt a culture based on personal responsibility and accountability.

The new CBE project "Russian Capital Markets Development Project"

Under this project, CBE Chairman Matthew Murray was selected as a member of an international consortium of legal experts to help the Center for Capital Market Development Foundation draft a new law for Russia prohibiting inside trading and market manipulation. The project was performed under a loan from the World Bank to assist in the development of Russian capital markets and to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Federal Financial Market Service (“FFMS”). The international experts based their draft of the new law on the European Union's Directive 2003/6/EC. Mr. Murray worked with representatives of the FFMS, Russian Duma, and securities exchanges on the development and review of the draft.

For more information on this legal initiative, please click the following link: http://www.fcsm.ru/eng/catalog.asp?ob_no=9147

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