REGULAR UPDATES to existing legislation governing transparency and accountability of board members have been called for.
Rawle Brancker, managing director of Brancker’s, told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY he agreed that transparency was still an area in Barbados which needed to be given high priority.
“We have always had it because of interlocking directors. Probably it was more so then than now but I would say it still exists. The updating of regulation could take care of this,” he said.
“The thing is that a lot of these [pieces of legislation] aren’t reviewed often enough and we are in a changing world where it is dynamic and amazingly different things are happening every day.
“We have got new technology for almost everything. We have new thinking and new people. I think it is unreasonable to expect legislation that was enacted 50 years ago to be relevant to what is happening today,” argued Brancker.
Responsibilities
Furthermore, the former Central Bank board member said “on the matter of transparency and accountability, all board members should become familiar with acts governing the regulation of business, ensuring that they are fully aware of what they should and should not do and their responsibilities, among other things.
“It could be a good thing for seminars to be held for directors to discuss the Companies Act and other things relevant to directorship so they could be better able to function in the best interest of shareholders and the public they serve,” he said.
“I think knowing the Companies Act, understanding what you are exposed to and what is expected of you is important. And it could come from getting a good [understanding] of the Companies Act first and then being [refreshed] through seminars.”
The current Butterfield Bank board member said he also believed board members should “demand” that they get reports well ahead of board meetings so they could study matters to be discussed and be better able to make “informed, intelligent and accurate assessments” that would result in the right decisions.
