Nasscom announces formation of Corporate Governance and Ethics Committee

Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy is the Chairman of the committee

Nasscom the premier trade body and the “voice” of the Indian IT – BPO industry today announced that it will be forming a Corporate Governance and Ethics Committee. This will be chaired by Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd. This committee will function as a permanent sub-committee under the aegis of the Nasscom Executive Council. This is one of the initiatives being taken by Nasscom to strengthen corporate governance practices in the Indian IT-BPO industry.

Speaking about this announcement, Mr. Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, said “We are delighted that Mr. Narayana Murthy has kindly consented to chair this committee. His valuable experience and thought leadership will help the industry and Nasscom to reaffirm its commitment to the highest levels of corporate governance and transparency. This committee will look to work with authorities, policy makers and regulators, to achieve the objectives of this group”.

Envisaged as an 8 member committee, members will include industry experts, independent directors as well as academicians and will meet at least three times a year to formulate strategies and measure implementation schedule. Commenting on the announcement Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, Nasscom and Global CEO, Zensar Technologies said “While the committee will focus on awareness and advocacy and share best practices across the member community, we will also be considering steps to further strengthen the excellent reputation of this sector in corporate India.”

The objectives of this committee will include sharpening the existing appropriate code of ethics, values and corporate code of conduct for industry; emphasising existing regulations and practices on corporate governance and re-drafting and re-affirming appropriate code of ethics, values and corporate code of conduct for industry. This committee will look to establish and maintain credibility for the industry among customers, analysts, government, employees, society etc, and will also look to engage with relevant stakeholders and build a desirable framework for the industry that includes a “model code of governance and best practices” and a “model set of financial information disclosures”. Additionally, it will also develop and create awareness of best practices to be followed by the Board, Audit committees and Independent Directors of organisations.

Creating awareness across various levels of management and encourage formulating and strengthening of whistle blower policy will be additional focus areas for this committee.

About Nasscom
Nasscom (www.nasscom.in) is India's National Association of Software and Service Companies, the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT software and services industry in India. Nasscom is a global trade body with over 1200 members, of which over 250 are global companies from the US, UK, EU, Japan and China. Nasscom's member companies are in the business of software development, software services, software products, IT-enabled/BPO services and e-commerce. Nasscom has been the strongest proponent of global free trade in India.

Nasscom is committed to work proactively to encourage its members to adopt world class management practices, build and uphold highest quality standards and become globally competitive. In India and around the world, Nasscom members are participants in the new global economy and are reputed for their cutting-edge business practices and social initiatives.