A highly-profitable investment
One of the central pillars of Sustainable Development of businesses today is the adoption of the Principles of Corporate Governance. For this reason, Law 4706/2020 is an important reform that affects corporate culture, credibility and reputation and increases the value of the business. Corporate Governance is, after all, a topic that the Association of Chief Executive Officers strongly supports and promotes, believing that it is the only way for the development of businesses and organizations and consequently the well-being of societies, while it also cooperates with the Hellenic Corporate Governance Council (HCGC) on the revision of the Greek Corporate Governance Code.
However, no law can create a corporate culture, unless the companies themselves embrace in practice the principles of Corporate Governance in their business operations. In other words, it should not be considered as a regulatory obligation, but as a framework of principles that gives the company a valuable competitive advantage. In fact, the Association of Chief Executive Officers recognizes and emphasizes the importance and urgency of the application of Corporate Governance rules to public companies as well (with the appropriate legislative regulation), as well as their adoption by non-listed companies, given that the benefits they can draw from them in the medium and long term are enormous, enhancing their credibility and creditworthiness.
Ideally the adoption of Corporate Governance rules should be an element of self-commitment and self-regulation so that sanctions and bureaucratic legislation are not needed. In fact, the top executives must support and implement actions in this direction and also make the above elements areas of evaluation of any company. I believe that no competent professional manager wants to take on the responsibility of managing a company the Board of Directors of which does not operate with a substantial adoption of the principles of Corporate Governance!
Greek entrepreneurship needs injections of credibility to attract capital to strengthen its competitiveness and productivity. Greek CEOs need meritorious, reliable and qualified Boards of Directors to be able to effectively manage a company. We all want a strong economy to get us on the road to growth. The compliance with the Corporate Governance rules is the basic condition for the consolidation of these relationships of trust.
John Anastasopoulos
Advisor to the ACEO Board
