SEBI to list names of Directors having no stake in company

Bangalore, Aug 11 (UNI) The Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) today warned Indian companies to desist from appointing Directors who do not own a single share in the company, but outlive the CEOs and even promoters by serving for too long without much purpose.

Speaking at an orientation programme of company directors and other professionals on 'New Frontiers of Corporate Governence' at the National Law School of India University here, SEBI Chairman M Damodaran said SEBI was planning to go public with the list of those people who had served on the boards of a number of companies without actually having any stake.

''To ensure good corporate governance, companies should have a proper evaluation process in place to rate the performance of the board members and ensure that only professionals be appointed as Directors and not those who make it a profession of becoming Directors,'' he said.

Mr Damodaran opined that it was time the Indian corporate houses raised the bar on performance of professionals and good governance.

SEBI would ensure that the corporates keep improving their performance, for which he had drafted a separate set of rules to help companies follow prescribed practices, he said.

Good corporate governance should first begin at the board level.

Companies should ensure appointment of good hands in the board and compensate them well. ''If you don't pay well, you don't get good Directors, nor can you retain such people for long,'' he said.

MORE UNI RS GD SKB1348