Korea Listed Companies Association (KLCA) will launch a governance committee advising the companies to better pitch their management decisions in shareholders’ meetings.

The committee consisting of 10 experts including lawyers, accountants and analysts will be led by Kwak Su-keun, an honorary professor at Seoul National University. It will assume an advisory role for companies by analyzing agenda on their shareholders meetings and making relevant recommendations.

In the initial stage, the committee will provide advisory service to about 800 KLCA member companies listed on the nation’s main Kospi market and secondary Kosdaq free of charge at their request, and then expand the service to other companies.

“The market has been dominated with one-sided view in the absence of advisors speaking for companies,” said Jung Koo-ryong, Chairman of KLCA. According to a survey done by KLCA, no proxy advisor made an inquiry related to meeting agenda prior to this year’s shareholders meetings among the nation’s three proxy advisors – Korea Corporate Governance Service, Sustinvest and Daishin Governance Research Institute, and two foreign names – Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis.

“The committee will be set up to act as a mediator between companies and investors, and ultimately to seek to enhance shareholders’ values,” added Jung.

“The committee is not an organization that blindly takes side with companies, but one that offers balanced view to the market,” said Kwak.

By Han Ye-Kyung and Choi Mira

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