Creating Value Through Governance - Towards a New Accountability: Response to ACCA Consultation

In February 2014 the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) published a consultation paper entitled "Creating value through governance - towards a new accountability". The consultation was open for comment until 31 August 2014 and following the consultation period the ACCA intends to publish an updated paper on the subject of governance and value creation. This consultation paper forms part of ACCA's investigation to examine whether existing governance and risk management frameworks are "fit for purpose". It asks whether corporate governance in practice, is helping business to create value or whether something has gone wrong. As part of this initiative the ACCA have stated the following: "Corporate governance is vital to societies that depend on business to create economic wellbeing ... Achieving good corporate governance is complex: it involves economics, politics and fundamental aspects of human nature as well as business and markets ... Ultimately, governance is about how to make good decisions ... Present approaches have not ensured that companies focus on, and succeed in, creating long term sustainable value." This submission provides comments to address the Corporate Governance challenge from two distinct perspectives: 1. General Observations: This section addresses the following issues in the context of Corporate Governance: - The Impact of Culture in Business and Society - The Role of Ethics and Moral Values in Corporate Behaviour - Enforcing Accountability and Restoring Trust - The Stakeholder Ecosystem - Understanding the Nature of Sustainable Value - The Value Preservation Imperative - The Challenge of Improving Corporate Governance 2. Response to Specific Questions: This section provides feedback in relation to the specific consultation questions outlined by the ACCA in the consultation paper. The comments included in this submission are intended to be a constructive attempt to positively contribute to this ACCA Corporate Governance inquiry in the hope that it will lead to a better understanding of the problems and also some solutions.