CSj previews the Institute's upcoming biennial corporate governance conference, to be held on the 23–24 September 2016 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong.

Next month, the 10th in the Institute's series of biennial corporate governance conferences (CGCs) gets underway in Hong Kong. The Institute's CGCs have established a reputation as a premier forum for exploring practical solutions to emerging corporate governance issues and the traditional practical focus to the forum's discussions will be maintained this year, but, interestingly, the perspective will be something new.

Corporate governance inside and out

The theme 'Corporate governance: inside and out – forces shaping the corporate governance landscape', will enable twin perspectives on the latest trends, developments and practices in corporate governance. Firstly, from the governance players internal to the company itself – primarily the board and management, and secondly, from the external actors such as regulators, auditors, shareholders and the media. The first day of the conference will focus on specific aspects of this overall theme as outlined below:

• session one, 'Guard dogs, police dogs or lap dogs?’ will look at directors and corporate governance
• session two, 'Hands on or handcuffed?’ will look at management and corporate governance
• session three, 'Players or spectators?’ will explore shareholders’ perspectives on corporate governance, and
• session four, 'At the table or just noisy neighbours?’ will look at the role of external stakeholders.

Unusually, the conference this year will involve two full days of discussions – the usual format was to have the second day comprise site visits. The second day of the conference will be devoted to corporate governance issues in Mainland China, as well as the complex interplay of factors between the Mainland and Hong Kong.

Join the debate

In keeping with the practice of past years, this year's CGC will adopt a format of relatively short speaker presentations (they will be limited to 20 minutes) followed by extended panel discussions and Q&A sessions. This helps to boost the level of interaction between speakers, panellists and the audience. In addition, CGC participants can look forward to the very lively discussions inspired by the use of the electronic voting system. Holding regular electronic polls throughout the debate gives every member of the audience a chance to express his or her view on the topics under discussion. Moreover, in the hands of Conference Chair Peter Greenwood FCS FCIS, use of the polls helps to lift the humour with which the day's discussions are held. The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries Corporate Governance Conference 2016 'Corporate governance: inside and out – forces shaping the corporate governance landscape', will take place at the JW Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong, on the 23–24 September 2016. More information and the conference booking form can be found on the CGC webpage: www.hkics.org.hk/CGC2016.