Corp governance plan for RI

Corp governance plan for RI

SYDNEY (Dow Jones): The Australian Securities & Investments Commission Friday signed an agreement with Edith Cowan University and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop and deliver corporate governance programs to regulatory and government officials in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The project has been designed to "foster sound corporate governance and improve the regulatory environment for the prevention of corporate fraud," said ASIC Chairman Alan Cameron in a statement. More specifically, it will help with the development of laws to regulate the duties of directors and define shareholder and creditor rights. Also, it will help develop reporting and disclosure regimes at national and company levels.

Poor corporate governance was a "major factor" in the recent economic destabilization of the Asia Pacific region, Cameron noted.