19/11/2019

Governors of the Central Banks of Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and the Director of the Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have signed a Memorandum of Co-operation on Corporate Governance of Banks.

This Memorandum is a regional initiative, which has been developed under the leadership of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, and in cooperation with the central banks of 5 Western Balkan countries. 
This initiative is the first of its kind in the region and it is relating to corporate governance practices of second-tier banks operating in our countries, namely the quality of the governance mechanisms demonstrated by second-tier banks. 
This memorandum was signed following the presentation of a CBK study reflecting the development of corporate governance in the last decade, which is the first study of its kind for these countries, and as a result of this study it was built a database with significant historical data on the development of governance in recent years. 

This study will be available to the 5 central banks of the region for their needs in bank supervision, to assist the process of advancing the legal framework, as well as in policy-making and research advancement in this regard. 
In the framework of the high level International Conference, organized by the CBK in Prishtina, with the topic “Risks and Opportunities in a Dynamic Financial Sector - Development Perspective”, respectively in the 4th session, it was discussed about the corporate governance framework, as a prerequisite in the financial sector, for making sound business and financial decisions. 
The following panel members: Peter Nichol, Senior Banking Expert from the US Treasury, Gian Piero Cigna, Director of the Financial Law Unit at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Alexander S. Berg, Senior Specialist of Corporate Governance at the Bank World, Shkendije Himaj, Coordinator for General Functions of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, Daniel Blume, Senior Policy Analyst in the OECD Corporate Governance Committee Secretariat, and Adalyat Abdumanapova, Team Leader and Corporate Governance Officer of IFC's Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Advisory Program in Europe and Central Asia and Mattia Romani from EBRD discussed a number of corporate governance issues as a prerequisite of the financial sector for good business and financial decisions. 
Panel members also discussed on the new challenges for corporate governance in the regulatory and technological framework, on the development of engagement practices for a constructive dialogue between the board and shareholders, which stakeholders should be involved in this dialogue and how to get involved, etc.
At the end of the session, the panel members answered the questions addressed by the audience.