Corporate governance isn't a dirty word, honest [16sep03]

Herald Sun: Corporate governance isn't a dirty word, honest [16sep03]: "By Geoff Elliott
16sep03

SOME executives might have dismissed it as a concept revolving around the right words in an annual report but it looks like the new buzzwords in business - corporate governance - are going to start affecting balance sheets.

Once the interest rate a company was charged on its borrowings was simply a judgment on the kind of financial numbers a company could report.

But it's increasingly going to become a judgment on less tangible factors: like the quality and transparency of board practices.

Global rating agencies like Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch are starting to take into account corporate governance when rating a company's balance sheet. "