Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din on Governance in The Gulf Cooperation Council Region [Podcast]

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Post By: Adam Turteltaub

With an increased focus on the relationship between compliance and the Board, compliance professionals need to better understand the key factors that affect governance structures where they work.

To better understand governance structures in the Gulf Cooperation Council region we spoke with Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din, the CEO of Hawkamah, a governance institute in the region. In this podcast he explains that overall the governance model in GCC Is similar to what is found in the Anglo-Saxon model, but there are key differences. Some companies have an executive committee that acts like a board. In Saudi Arabia, members of the audit committee are elected by shareholders.

More importantly the interest in compliance varies greatly by jurisdiction. Where enforcement is lax, the compliance team is not likely to get the board’s attention. At the same time in regions where there is enhanced director liability for wrongdoing the board may be singularly focused on compliance, even to the detriment of strategy and risk.

Listen in as he explains the issues and how compliance teams can best secure the board’s support.