Comments
In the early 1990s, at an Infosys AGM, a young shareholder activist quizzed Chairman Mr Narayana Murthy at length.
Impressed by his skill with numbers and zeal for corporate governance, Mr Murthy made him an offer to join Infosys in 1994.
The zealous chartered accountant, Mr Mohandas Pai, went on to become the Infosys Chief Financial Officer and played his role in transforming Infosys into one of the world's most respected corporate entities.
The former Infoscion has now joined hands with his former colleague in promoting shareholder activism through a corporate governance research and proxy advisory services start-up, InGovern.
The concepts behind the “action” are unfamiliar to Dalal Street.
Governance ecosystem
“I believe the country needs to create a strong ecosystem for good corporate governance.
Treating minority shareholders fairly is a critical step in building a strong equity market,” Mr Pai says.
Mr Pai, who formulated the country's first publicly articulated financial policy for Infosys and played a key role in enhancing transparency and disclosure levels, knows both sides of game.
According to Mr Shriram Subramanian, founder and Managing Director of InGovern, “Mr Pai's expertise and domain knowledge will help InGovern shape the contours of good corporate governance which is critical in attracting retail investors to the equity market.”
Mr Subramanian, who was the Head of Wealth and Asset Management at Infosys Consulting, is not willing to share Mr Pai's investment figure, except for saying that he (Pai) is a minority shareholder.
InGovern has an arrangement with Broadridge Financial Solutions, a New York Stock Exchange-listed $2.5-billion company, for distribution of its research and vote recommendations among its 3,500 institutional investor-clients.
Several institutional investors have already “acted” on its suggestions on voting of resolutions put forward by corporates for shareholders' nod.
>jayanta_mallick@thehindu.co.in
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.