Leading Proxy Advisory Firm Endorses NACD Corporate Governance Principles

PROXY Governance, Inc. (PGI), a leading independent proxy advisory service, is endorsing a set of principles aimed at strengthening corporate governance among publicly traded companies. Issued by the National Association of Corporate Directors, the "Key Agreed Principles to Strengthen Corporate Governance for U.S. Publicly Traded Companies," have been endorsed by investor groups including the Council of Institutional Investors as well as business groups such as the Business Roundtable. The principles are intended to serve as a starting point for further governance reforms that will improve investor protections, strengthen American business, and promote economic growth. Additionally, the principles have been praised by the International Corporate Goverance Network.

Vienna, VA (PRWEB) November 13, 2008 -- PROXY Governance, Inc. (PGI), a leading proxy advisory service, is endorsing a set of principles aimed at strengthening corporate governance among publicly traded companies.

Issued by the National Association of Corporate Directors, the "Key Agreed Principles to Strengthen Corporate Governance for U.S. Publicly Traded Companies," have been endorsed by investor groups including the Council of Institutional Investors as well as business groups such as the Business Roundtable. The principles are intended to serve as a starting point for further governance reforms that will improve investor protections, strengthen American business, and promote economic growth.

"It is gratifying that the 'Agreed Principles' start from the premise that one size does not fit all when it comes to corporate governance," said PGI President & COO Michael J. Ryan, Jr. "Indeed, the introduction to the principles specifically states that they have been developed to help shareholders and boards avoid rote approaches to corporate governance. This perspective has been PGI's position from day one and a key differentiator in the services we provide to our clients," he noted.

The "Agreed Principles" assign primary responsibility for corporate governance to the board of directors. Further, boards must:

- Promote governance transparency;

- Ensure director competency and commitment;

- Promote board accountability and objectivity;

- Provide some form of board leadership distinct from management;

- Promote a corporate culture of integrity, ethics, and corporate social responsibility;

- Ensure that governance structures and practices are designed to support board efforts to focus on strategy and associated risks;

- Protect against board entrenchment;

- Promote shareholder input in director selection; and

- Encourage communications with shareholders.

"While these objectives are simple enough, boards and management too often fall prey to the perceived ease of check-the-box approaches," said Mr. Ryan. "While such an approach is simple in the near term, the long-term problem with such strategies is that that they fail to address the specific, unique issues of individual companies, thus missing the opportunity to focus on specific corporate governance risks or potential failures.

"PROXY Governance wholeheartedly endorses the 'Agreed Principles,' and calls upon investors, as well as the business and corporate governance communities, to implement the Principles, and to treat them as the first step in ongoing corporate governance reform," Mr. Ryan concluded.

PROXY Governance, Inc., (http://www.proxygovernance.com) is an independent and conflict-free proxy advisory firm that helps build long-term shareholder value by providing various proxy advisory services to institutional investors, including mutual funds, public and private pension funds, insurance companies' investment divisions, and investment banks. PGI's services include high-quality research, independent voting recommendations and a state-of-the-art proxy voting platform, known as PROXY Advantage.

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