governance & the companies act
JSEC is particularly committed to serve those in leadership of business and corporations in both the public and private sectors. Our objective is to strengthen ethical leadership in every sector and thereby contribute to sustainability and economic development.
The Companies Act 2008 (the "Act") places particular emphasis on accountability and transparency emphasizing the need to retain certain documents for seven years, make certain records available to shareholders and submit an Accountability and Transparency Report. Directors must always act in good faith and in the best interests of the company.
The Act also provides for a heightened degree of accountability in terms of listed companies, which under Regulation 43, are required to set up a Social and Ethics Committee that is to review the company's policies and compliance in respect of a range of practices relating to its impact on its internal and external stakeholders, the environment and the ethical conduct of the company's executive and management.
The King IV Code sets out the philosophy, principles, practices and outcomes for corporate governance in South Africa. The King IV Code is available from the IoDSA
social & ethics commitTees
JSEC provides support and advisory services to companies to set up and develop the terms of reference for their Social and Ethics Committee. The Companies Act No 71 of 2008 makes this a mandatory requirement for all state owned companies (SOE’s), listed companies and companies that have had a public interest score of at least 500 points in any two of the previous five years.