Watchdog to track corporate governance compliance in Bulgaria

  Bulgarian listed companies' compliance with corporate governance rules will be tracked by

a new independent watchdog, set up on September 3, when the founding memorandum of the

new National Commission for Corporate Governance was signed, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.

The commission's goal would be to encourage the implementation of good corporate governance and the drafting of a national code of corporate governance, BTA said. Corporate governance is generally held to mean the way in which a company is governed and how it deals with the various interests of its customers, shareholders, employees and society at large.

"The global financial crisis and the economic down turn have highlighted more than ever the need to improve corporate governance and risk management," World Bank country manager for Bulgaria Florian Fichtl said at the signing ceremony.

Although independent, the new watchdog was set up under the patronage of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC).

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association deputy chairperson Roumen Radev was appointed chairperson of the watchdog, which also includes representatives from the BSE, FSC, Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, Association of the Investor Relations Directors in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Association on Investors Relations, Investors Association, think-tank Center for Economic Development and academics, the World Bank said in a statement.