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The Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICSA) is the qualifying body for company secretaries and has many years experience of working with government on corporate governance and regulatory initiatives.

Chartered Secretaries work as company secretaries (many for the leading public companies in Britain), share registrars, board directors and senior managers in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors of the UK economy. We have 36,000 members worldwide who play a pro-active and central role in the governance of organisations and as such we are uniquely placed to comment on regulatory and business issues. David Wilson, our Chief Executive, was a member of the Turnbull Committee and we have regularly contributed to regulatory and legislative development in the UK, including the 2006 Companies Act and the Cadbury, Greenbury, Hempel and Myners reports into particular aspects of corporate governance. Many of the points raised in our report on boardroom behaviours have been noted in the Combined Code review and the Walker review. The report has gained considerable press coverage, notably in the Financial Times.

In November 2009 we are holding a national awards event in partnership with Hermes Equity Ownership Services to reward best practice in transparency and reporting. These awards are a response to the governance lapses in the banking sector and seek to re-establish levels of trust and confidence within the UK companies. The awards have received strong support from many quarters including Lord Myners, the FRC, the CBI and the ABI. David Walker himself has described them as an 'excellent and well-timed initiative'.

We would like to offer the experience and expertise acquired over years of engagement with MPs and stakeholders on good governance practice. We are well placed to provide insight into issues such as board and committee structures and procedures, board responsibilities for risk and the relationship between boards and shareholders.

Please see the video 'Chartered Secretaries – the fast track to the boardroom' from ICSA.

ICSA

ICSA

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