Governanceprinciples.org Website Review

A little more than two years ago, we published the Commonsense Principles of Corporate Governance.  That work represented a collaborative effort – a search for common ground – by representatives of some of America’s largest corporations and institutional investors.  We said then, and it is no less true today, that the long-term prosperity of millions of American workers, retirees and investors depends on the effective governance of our public companies.  We hoped that our Principles would be part of a larger dialogue about the responsibilities and need for constructive engagement of those companies, their boards and their investors.  We think that has been the case.  Other groups have published their own works on the subject.  Among them are an investor-led effort by the Investor Stewardship Group (ISG) called the Framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance, a business-led effort by the Business Roundtable (BRT) called Principles of Corporate Governance, and a piece by the International Business Council of the World Economic This dialogue is critical.  In the last 20 years, we have seen a precipitous decline in the number of public companies in our country – a phenomenon that is distinctly and uniquely American.  While the reasons for that decline may be complex and varied, one reason cited by a number of commentators is that our country’s public market participants are too short-term oriented, thus discouraging companies with a longer-term view from going public.  We need to fix that problem, so that all Americans have the opportunity to participate in the economic growth generated by our country’s innovation and ingenuity. Today, we endorse the ISG Framework, the BRT Principles and The New Paradigm as counterweights to unhealthy short-termism.  Indeed, a number of the companies and organizations represented in those efforts were also part of ours.  Moreover, in light of the work of the ISG, the BRT the World Economic Forum and others, and after further reflection on our own Commonsense Principles, we decided to re-convene