Westpac top of the class in corporate governance
(12 February 2004 – Australia) Westpac is the only Australian organisation to have been awarded top marks for its corporate governance performance in a survey conducted by GovernanceMetrics International (GMI), a New York based research firm.
The bank made a list of just 22 companies – 18 of which were American, two British and the other Canadian – out of 2100 global companies.
Canadian companies fared best across the board, with an average rating of 7.6, followed by the US (7.0), Australia (6.9) and the UK (6.7). Financial services as a sector attained a rating of 6.1.
As part of the ratings process, GMI president and CEO Gavin Anderson said the company identified "issues of concern" and "red flags" organisations, citing the example of failed Italian dairy Parmalat, which the GMI alerted investors to last July.
Japanese companies had the lowest overall corporate governance ratings with Greece, Austria, Portugal and Denmark the worst performers in Europe.
Canadian companies fared best across the board, with an average rating of 7.6, followed by the US (7.0), Australia (6.9) and the UK (6.7). Financial services as a sector attained a rating of 6.1.
As part of the ratings process, GMI president and CEO Gavin Anderson said the company identified "issues of concern" and "red flags" organisations, citing the example of failed Italian dairy Parmalat, which the GMI alerted investors to last July.
Japanese companies had the lowest overall corporate governance ratings with Greece, Austria, Portugal and Denmark the worst performers in Europe.
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