Wednesday 21 October 2020
St. Pierre Park Hotel
Guernsey
GY1 1FD
For organisations in Guernsey, governance is not a static thing. It continues to evolve and throw up new challenges – whether they be in compliance and regulation, in the deployment of new technologies, in crisis management, or in demonstrating greater transparency around social and environmental impact. For stakeholders, good governance is an essential part of business success and debates continue to rage as to how organisations can build effective, high-performing boards that can deal with these and other issues.
In this year’s conference, delegates will have the opportunity to discuss and explore the ins and outs of this new governance landscape. We look at whether organisations have underestimated the challenges ahead, and reflect upon how they can improve what they do in response to this constantly changing world.
Time | Programme |
---|---|
09.00 |
Registration, tea/coffee |
09.25 |
Opening remarks The Chartered Governance Institute will summarise the impact of the pandemic and open the discussion on what comes next. Speaker: |
09.40 |
Forward with purpose The idea that profit and purpose are mutually exclusive has been challenged in recent years as the public, stakeholders and regulators alike look for greater transparency about organisations’ social and environmental impact. This is borne out by studies which show that embracing a higher purpose is indeed a good thing. Our panellists discuss how and why organisations with strong purpose outperform those that don’t, and whether the 'triple bottom line' is a valid framework in which to create additional business value. Moderator: Speakers: |
10.20 |
Assessing governance, the new matrix Stakeholders can scrutinise organisational performance, so boards need to understand how their organisations are perceived. Given that governance is difficult to measure, our expert presents a new matrix that allows boards to quantify their performance. Join us to learn how to create tailored interventions to move towards better governance. Speaker: |
10.45 |
Networking break |
11.15 |
‘The Perfect Board’ – getting the mix right Without the right skills and leadership from the board, all the laws, regulations and internal procedures a company needs to follow can be ineffective. But what does the optimal board really look like? In this session, we ask, what is the optimal mix of executives and non-executives? Should shareholder representatives sit on the board – and what about functions like HR and Compliance? What should the board consider in terms of diversity, or of directors’ personalities and behaviours? Moderator: |
11.50 |
Artificial Intelligence in financial services Few technologies have captured the popular imagination like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Beyond the hype, organisations are looking at how it can transform their businesses, drive efficiencies and help serve customers better. Yet while the pressure to stay ahead has never been greater, institutions are aware that new capabilities can also create new potential liabilities, and consumers are increasingly mindful of the security of their data. In this session, we explore the potential risks and rewards of AI. Speaker: |
12.30 |
Networking lunch |
13.30 |
Corporate failure – spotting the risks From Enron to Thomas Cook, Carillion to the current problems at Boeing, poor corporate governance lies at the heart of many a corporate failure. Be they issues around transparency, poor oversight from the board, or challenges around culture, these and other scandals have a lot to teach us. In this session, we pull together some of these recurring themes and design a ‘checklist’ of issues organisations might use to examine the effectiveness of their governance. Speaker: |
14.10 |
Future Compliance – The New World Order The inexorable march of compliance and regulation over the years continues to dominate many regulated businesses in the Channel Islands. Whilst the islands can rightly be proud of their strong reputation on the global stage, are businesses and regulators now in danger of spending too much time measuring compliance activity, rather than being incentivised to catch the bad guys? How important is good governance in ensuring regulated entities actually follow the rules? In this session we look at key themes for regulated sectors going forward. Speaker: |
14.50 |
Networking break |
15.10 |
Practical lessons in crisis management All organisations face a crisis at some point in their life. Ensuring management is ready to handle a crisis is an important part of the board’s risk oversight role, and directors can find themselves taking an active role if a situation spins out of control and a PR disaster is on the cards. Good governance means knowing where your weaknesses are before a crisis hits, and having crisis management planning firmly in place. So, is your board prepared? Speaker: |
15.45 |
Trust me, I’m listed: Investor’s views in corporate reporting For many companies, reporting is viewed solely as a statutory exercise, a complex bit of coordination that draws on multiple teams to get the final report across the finishing line. In this session, we go back to first principles and explore some of the big questions around what reporting is really for, and how companies can produce informative, authentic and effective reports which engender trust with their stakeholders, and make employees feel proud of their company. Speaker: |
16.15 |
Closing Remarks from the Chair |
*This is a draft programme and may be subject to change