Swiss Stock Exchange To Impose Code Of Conduct On Listed Firms

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

18 April 2002

The Admission Board of the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX) voted on Wednesday to impose a corporate governance code of conduct on all listed companies.

Following accusations that Swiss companies are failing to provide sufficient information to investors, particularly those from other countries, the SWX has adopted a restructured draft of the corporate governance directive, which states that all companies listed on the Swiss exchange must reveal information regarding their structure, their shareholders, and the salaries and compensation of top personnel.

'With the directive that we approved today, we adopted a corporate governance policy that is not only one of the leading corporate governance policies in Europe, but one that satisfies the requirements of Switzerland,' President of the Admission Board, Peter E. Merian, said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added that: 'This directive would have made transparent the salary excesses that became known in the last few months,' doubtless referring to incidents such as the ABB pensions scandal.

However, for some the decision, although welcome, has been a long time coming. Speaking to the Swiss media prior to the SWX Admission Board's decision, Stefano Gilardi of corporate responsibility consultancy Centre Info, observed that:

'Botswana, for example, has had a code of corporate governance for a number of years. For a financial market the size of Switzerland, these measures are somewhat late.'

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