Research centre CGIC assigned by Ministries to investigate Corporate Governance Code ('Tabaksblat')

The Corporate Governance Insight Centre (CGIC) of the Faculty of Economics and Business has been asked to investigate the current status of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code, also known as the Tabaksblat Code. The assignment is given by the Monitoring Committee that has been established by the Ministry of Finance -also on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.

The Monitoring Committee is responsible for evaluating and, if necessary, changing the contents of the Dutch corporate governance code. In addition, it is charged with the duty of assessing whether and to what extent Dutch publicly listed firms comply with the best practices. The committee is chaired by Jos Streppel. See also the website: www.commissiecorporategovernance.nl.

Research group FEB
The research group consists of prof.dr. Hans van Ees (project leader), dr. Dirk  Akkermans, prof.dr. Niels Hermes, dr. Reggy Hooghiemstra, dr. Theo Postma, drs. Wesley Kaufman (University of Antwerp) and dr. Gerwin van der Laan (University of  Antwerp and University of Utrecht).

The research project consists of four parts. First, the composition of the Supervisory Boards of all companies listed at AEX and AMX of Euronext Amsterdam, plus thirty other publicly listed firms, will be investigated. The second part consists of an assessment of the quality of explanations firms give when deviating from the principles and best practices specified in the Code. The assessment will cover, among other things, the level of standardization of explanations and the amount of information they contain.
The third part is a qualitative analysis of the content of remuneration reports of the supervisory boards of all AEX firms. The fourth part investigates the transparency of information regarding the internal risk and control systems provided by companies listed at the AEX. Special attention will be paid to the information provided on the different risks they are confronted with.