Day of the Supervisory Board 2009

November 23, 2009 6:41 AM

During the fourth “Day of the Supervisory Board”, organized by The Galan Group Netherlands Antilles and Aruba together with VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, several aspects relating to good corporate governance will be discussed. The subject of the day is: “It’s not only the rules and regulations. It’s also the way people work together.”

Since 12 October of this year, Curaçao has had a new Corporate Governance Island Ordinance. A Code Corporate Governance belongs to this Island Ordinance. They will both become effective on January 1, next.

Having a Code Corporate Governance is not a guarantee for good governance as yet. It is clear that a Code Corporate Governance is useful to support supervisors in their supervision, but there is more than following the rules alone.

Culture and social control found in every company and in every Supervisory Board or Board of Supervisory Directors determine to a large extent how people handle rules and codes.

What are the standards and values Boards of Managing Directors and Boards of Supervisory Directors use? From what insights do they manage and supervise? How involved does the supervisor consider himself to be with the organization? Can you learn integrity? These are questions and aspects that might be more important than some rules that have been formulated in an Island Ordinance or a code. These and other questions will consequently be amply discussed on the fourth “Day of the Supervisory Board”. The Lieutenant-Governor of Bonaire, Glenn Thodé, tackles this subject first, followed by Ron Gomes Casseres, managing director of the Maduro & Curiel's Bank. The title of his lecture is: “It’s the people, stupid”.

Subsequently, Frank Kunneman, managing partner with VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, gives an explanation of the new Corporate Governance Island Ordinance. The title of his lecture is: “De mens streeft naar het goede, maar niet altijd goed genoeg” (people attempt to achieve what is right, but not always good enough). After the break the subject of the day is discussed by Roel In ‘t Veld, professor Corporate Governance at the University of the Netherlands Antilles. The title of his lecture is: “Toezicht in de publieke sector: te veel, te formeel, te banaal” (Supervision in the public sector: too much, too formal, too trivial).

The afternoon is concluded with a short panel discussion in which, apart from the lecturers, also Jaime Saleh, Minister of State and professor at the University of Utrecht, and Anthon Casperson MBA, CEO of IUH N.V. (Aqualectra), participate. The Chairman for the day is Robbert Kroon, partner with The Galan Group Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

(Source: National newspaper Amigoe)

18 November 2009

Frank Kunneman is Managing Partner of VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne.