Research by the Governance Institute of Australia has discovered that regardless of the industry, governance professionals will be required to manage additional regulatory scrutiny and more extensive compliance requirements due to the banking royal commission, on top of general issues that include technology, data management and the rate of change.
The Governance Institute of Australia’s CEO, Megan Motto, noted that the effects of the royal commission will reach far beyond the financial sector.
“What is interesting is that this effect flows on beyond the financial sector and into all Australian organisations, regardless of size or industry,” she said.
“They all expect additional regulatory scrutiny, and compliance burdens, especially amongst the next generation of governance professionals.”
The report used interviews from ASX 100 company professionals and survey data from the Governance Institute database to reach its conclusions.
It found that remuneration will play an important role going forward, with most professionals expecting scrutiny of director and executive pay as likely to rise.
Company secretaries will also play an important role moving forward, with the expectation that they will be asked to sit on boards to provide different perspectives and also play the role of “the conscience” or chief ethical adviser.
Just over 30 per cent of governance respondents have indicated they are well prepared for this future, while 9 per cent are not prepared.
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