Central Corporate Governance Portal to be launched by PICG and CDC

KARACHI: The Pakistan Institute and Corporate Governance (PICG) and Central Depository Company (CDC) are launching a corporate governance portal, e-Go, to protect the rights of minority shareholders and to educate and engage shareholders in governance related issues.

The platform will be implemented as a joint venture of PICG and CDC, leveraging the domain expertise of PICG in the realm of corporate governance and the technical and operational expertise of CDC in implementing and operating state of the art national level digital platforms. The MoU Signing Ceremony was held at the CDC House, Karachi.

In this regard Pakistan Institute and Corporate Governance (PICG) and Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDCPL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development and implementation of e-Go platform, a groundbreaking digital initiative aimed to empower and facilitate investors/shareholders with the necessary knowledge of their shareholder rights and corporate governance practices. This signing also marked the occasion of the IOSCO World Investor Week 2023 (2nd to 8th Oct 2023).

e-Go platform initiative is in line with SECP’s vision to have more informed and involved shareholders and to protect the rights of minority shareholders. This Corporate Governance digital platform has been envisioned to equip shareholders of corporates and businesses with the necessary information, learning modules, and training resources to promote sound corporate governance practices.

At the occasion, describing the features of the upcoming platform, CEO-CDC Badiuddin Akber said this platform aims to enrich the corporate governance practices in Pakistan by effecting their implementation in true letter and spirit while leveraging the power of technology to provide a convenient, informative and interactive medium for shareholders to learn about and engage effectively in sound corporate governance practices.

The system is envisioned to effect the protection of rights of minority shareholders along with active involvement of shareholders in corporate governance decisions. CDC remains committed in its vision for market development and stakeholder facilitation by spearheading the digitization drive, he added.

Memosh Khawaja, President CEO PICG, applauded the efforts of CDC in its vision towards stakeholder facilitation and said that this joint initiative will pave the way for the much-needed active engagement of shareholders towards corporate governance decisions.

Memosh Khawaja, while addressing the occasion, commented that currently, there is a general lack of awareness and limited understanding among shareholders, especially minority shareholders, regarding their rights in the corporate governance practices, resulting in their reduced participation in decision making, vulnerability to manipulation and exploitation of shareholder rights.

The proposed portal aims to foster increased shareholder engagement in governance matters by facilitating greater awareness and knowledge.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023