BOARD EVALUATION PROCESS IN ITALY: HOW FAR IS IT FROM THE UK STANDARD?

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Maria Gaia Soana ORCID logo, Giuseppe Crisci

https://doi.org/10.22495/cbv13i3art1

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Abstract

Both the UK and the Italian Corporate Governance Codes call for boards to undertake an annual evaluation of their own performance and that of their committees. The study analyses the board review process conducted by the 25 most capitalized Italian listed companies at June 30th, 2016 and the top 25 companies included in the FTSE 100 on the same date in terms of objectives, parties involved, methodological approaches, suggestions to shareholders, board nomination and election. The Italian trends on board evaluation are compared to UK trends, as the UK is particularly advanced with regard to best practices on board self-assessment. Our analysis shows that in 2016 the most capitalized Italian companies seem to have improved their self-assessment compared to the past, in particular with regard to the disclosure of the process, the involvement of independent external consultants and the number of evaluated subjects. However, some aspects require improvement in the near future.

Keywords: Board Review, Self-Assessment, Board of Directors, Corporate Governance Code, Board Committees

Received: 19.09.2017

Accepted: 20.11.2017

How to cite this paper: Soana, M. G., & Crisci, G. (2017). Board evaluation process in Italy: How far is it from the UK standard? Corporate Board: role, duties and composition, 13(3), 6-18. https://doi.org/10.22495/cbv13i3art1