Actualidad

Listed companies’ Boards of Directors

PwC

PwC publishes this report every year, using the headline conclusions from a survey carried out with 66 board members of over 80 Spanish companies, many of them on the IBEX 35.

The survey analyses board director activity and how boards are developing their corporate governance (how the Board works, committees, stakeholders, corporate social responsibility, etc.)

Making comparisons with earlier years, the report highlights how the board directors’ function is increasingly proactive and professionalised. Boards now play a key role when companies have to take important decisions. The Board of Directors has become the touchstone for healthy companies and in particular for their long term sustainability.

The report identifies the following areas that need improvement:

  • New technologies and their application to companies’ digital transformation  (83% of board members feel that they lack the skillset to supervise technology issues);
  • The role of board members in defining and supervising corporate strategy (44% say they only review it once a year, while 6% admit they never do)
  • Succession planning for the chief executive officer (CEO) and members of the Board (only 19.1% of board members feel they spend enough time on this).

The report also notes that the vast majority of board members interviewed believe that in the next few years, the key issues will be: the separation between the Chair and the CEO; the role of the lead director, and the significant part played by shareholders in the Annual General Meeting.

 

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