Culture of secrecy may undermine Caribbean firms

Caribbean companies have a culture of secrecy that will harm their financial prospects in the present business climate.

This was the view of business consultant Dr Rollin Bertrand, who moderated a panel discussion titled “The Importance of transparency and disclosure” on Day Five of Governance Week 2022. This is an annual event hosted by the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute (CCGI). The panellists were Judith Chung, Group Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Legal Counsel at

GraceKennedy; Dave L Garcia, who heads the Legal and Corporate

Services Division of the NCB Financial Group Limited; and Dr Ron Sookram, Academic Director at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business.

The theme for Governance Week is “Developing the Conscience of the Board” sponsored by First Citizens Bank, Republic Bank, Angostura, PwC and JMMB Group Ltd.

Chung noted that investors were now looking at values and corporate governance as factors when deciding where to put their money. “This will increase trust and confidence in the market,” she asserted.

Sookram focused on the non-financial aspects of compliance, saying that most Caribbean companies were at the “embryonic stage” in this regard. “We need to get more Trinidad and Tobago companies to make their ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria more measurable,” he said, “rather than just storytelling. Statements need to be substantiated with evidence.”

Garcia argued that character should be companies’ first concern. “We must ensure we have the right character before we have the right reputation,” he said. Noting that transparency was defined by truth, accuracy, accessibility and timeliness, he suggested that “If we are leading with disclosures, we can provide context and the facts.” This, he added, was more advantageous than responding to a leak.

Chung said that “Transparency and disclosure are very important parts of good corporate governance.” She argued that this was only possible to achieve with the right company culture. “It starts with building a culture of transparency,” she said. “But a culture is not easy to change and it starts from the top with the board of directors. So the most critical thing is to have people who are aligned with those values.”

From the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute

Contact CEO Kamla Rampersad de Silva at 868-221-8707

Or email: kamla.rampersad-desilva@caribbeangovernance.org