Corporate Governance expert Professor Frank Kunneman addresses participants during the corporate governance training.
POND ISLAND–The Supervisory Board of Directors (SBOD) of St. Maarten Telecommunication Holding Company (SMTHC) and TelEm Group’s Management participated in a two-day training session on corporate governance, facilitated by Corporate Governance compliance expert and Managing Partner of VanEpps Kunneman VanDorne Frank Kunneman.
During the training, held on November 26, parties took steps toward understanding each other’s respective roles and responsibilities. Kunneman used case studies to bring home corporate governance compliance principles, noting how board and management can unintentionally misinterpret their respective roles, with both convinced that each is acting in the best interest of the entity they serve.
The recent training was a follow-up to one held in May. Supervisory Board Chairman John Richardson said he was very pleased that two new members of the board, Attorney Dagmar Daal and businessman Earl Wyatt, could join their board colleagues in the corporate governance compliance sessions so that they too can fully understand their roles as new board members.
“With the high level of training that Professor Kunneman gives, a solid foundation is being laid to address issues that we as a board and management have to deal with on a daily basis, including issues such as integrity, ethics, transparency and accountability through a better understanding of the law, Book 2 Civil Code of St. Maarten, the Corporate Governance Ordinance and the Articles of Incorporation of the relevant government-owned company,” Richardson said.
The training, he added, is geared towards understanding the legal role of management and that of the Supervisory Board of Directors, but it also addresses the many layers of what led to court cases in Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire and St. Maarten with situations that took place on these islands being addressed and expounded upon.
“Like in all walks of life, the legislation follows the reality/developments and in these cases, it is no different, or the law was there but there was a great lack of compliance. For some time now, our way of life as we know it has come under extreme scrutiny. This is evident from the many court cases that are ongoing or have culminated in verdicts. From Mr. Kunneman we have learned that there is, however, a silver lining coming through,” Richardson said.
Stakeholders should be aware that the Supervisory Board of TelEm Group and the Management are taking their corporate governance compliance responsibilities very seriously and that management and board continue to undertake efforts to be corporate responsible, he added.
TelEm Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kendall Dupersoy said the sessions were very interactive and served as a timely reminder to board and management of their respective roles in the company’s interest.
“As a company, we have been very proud of our high record of 95 to 98% corporate governance compliance and with training such as this, at the level it was given, we are showing that we intend to maintain that high standard,” said Dupersoy.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83232-telem-board-management-in-corporate-governance-training
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