M.Comm. / The previous narrow view that directors are accountable to shareholders only and that reporting of company affairs should be left to them alone is changing. With the world moving into an ever-developing era of transparency, a dynamic participating approach is required in which directors' reports would be directed at all stakeholders and should consequently address all matters of concern and interest. In respect to similar expectations overseas, the Treadway Commission in the United States of America and the Cadbury Committee in the United Kingdom, addressed the financial issues of corporate governance and made certain recommendations for change. After the publication of these recommendations, the Institute of Directors verified similar expectations in South Africa and the King Committee was formed. The King Report on Corporate Governance published in 1994 (the King Report) has advocated fundamental changes to current corporate governance practices in South Africa. The objective of the Report is to improve the system by which companies in South Africa are directed and controlled and to improve openness and accountability. The King Report recommendations were drafted to supply the necessary guidelines in the providing of relevant and comprehensive information to all stakeholders concerned. The query which arises from a review of the Report's recommendations is whether the stakeholders, whose only access to relevant information is in most instances the published interim and annual financial statements, will be able to determine if the King recommendations were in actual fact implemented. In view of the fact that one of the main objectives of the King recommendations was to ensure that relevant, timeous and understandable information is available to users, it is imperative to be able to determine if the recommendations were in actual fact implemented. The question which this research report addresses is whether it would be possible to determine from an examination of the published financial statements of a listed company if the King recommendations were implemented in practice. To obtain an answer to this question, a questionnaire was drafted which addresses the specific recommendations. The questionnaire was then applied to the published annual financial statements of three selected companies, namely Edgars, Alpha Limited and the Seardel Group. The finding of the research is that the companies indicated, as required by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, that they do comply with the King recommendations, even though certain instances were found where the Code of Corporate Practices and Conduct were not complied with. Numerous references were also made to the companies' commitment to the implementation of the recommendations. There is, however, no indication, or verification, of the extent to which the recommendations were implemented in practice. The conclusion from the research is that the King recommendations can only be truly successful once the actual implementation of the recommendations, the problems experienced in implementation and the contribution to the enhancement of better corporate governance, are verified by an independent party and these findings published in an accessible document.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:9962 |
| Date | 11 September 2012 |
| Creators | Janse van Rensburg, J. H. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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