AGL's chairman, John Phillips, has weighed into the debate over corporate ethics by firing a broadside at government intervention, corporate disclosure, greedy executives and poorly run boards.
Addressing an Australian Institute of Company Directors lunch in Sydney yesterday, Mr Phillips said the possible introduction of tighter disclosure rules by ASX would further distract executives towards market reaction - and share price - instead of the management of their business.
Mr Phillips also criticised the practice of directors chairing the boards of more than one major listed company.
"The importance of the chairman should not be underrated. Just look at some of the companies that have got themselves into trouble and ask yourself, 'How effective was the chairman, was he or she a force for good'.
"It's not simply a question of having the time, some professional directors work extremely long hours, but the chairman must be intimately associated with the company and recognised in the community as being so."
Mr Phillips chairs the Foreign Investment Review Board, the Australian Charities Fund and IBJ Australia Bank. He is chancellor of the University of Western Sydney, treasurer of Caritas Australia and was the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank.
Mr Phillips acknowledged the argument that there was pressure on chairmen to sit on many boards, given the limited size of directors fees as opposed to executive remuneration . But he said chairmen where given two to three times more than directors so they could spend more time becoming intimate with the daily running of companies.
In attacking the culture of rewarding executive performance with share options, Mr Phillips said: "I thought that the generous basic packages would ensure that happened anyway."
