Crowe Horwath forum highlights importance of board appraisals

Well-known audit and tax advisory services firm Crowe Horwath Oman conducted an orientation programme on the Board Appraisals for the directors, CEOs and CFOs of listed companies at the Oman Sheraton Hotel on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Dr Robert Van Brederode, former International Chair of Crowe Horwath Indirect tax practice, Atlanta (US), said, “Across the world board evaluations have become a serious compliance requirement. The size of the boards varies from as much as 15 directors in Germany to six in Brazil.”

Fundamentally, the evaluation process is based on the virtues of transparency, accountability, fairness and responsibility — attributes that also applicable in the Sultanate, said Dr Brederode. The process of evaluation, he explained, put onerous responsibilities on the directors. The onus of carrying out the evaluation is as much on the investors, as it is on the board. The purpose of evaluation is to improve the performance of the board by identifying strength and weaknesses, he noted.

Earlier, welcoming the distinguished participants, Davis Kallukaran, Managing Partner of Crowe Horwath Oman, stated: “Corporates the world over have come to terms with the existence and importance of board evaluation. Until very recently, board evaluations were done by circulating certain papers and were not considered a serious exercise. But guidelines from the regulators have taken the force of law and corporates have to come to terms with the existence and importance of board evaluation. Now Oman has also initiated this process.

The code of Corporate Governance in the Sultanate aims to provide a binding framework for governance in public stock companies with regard to their direction, organisation and supervision through a series of specific and defined policies, processes and procedures,” Kallukaran added