|
Deyaar Development, a real estate developer that has a reputation for selling off-plan projects within hours of announcing them, or getting its share offering oversubscribed more than 10 times at a time when most regional corporates dreaded the very thought of going public, has suddenly become a subject of speculation, rumours and unwanted publicity.
The company's predicament seems to have a lot to do with its communication strategy (or lack of it) rather than the underlying case related to an alleged financial misappropriation and the arrest of senior executives. The case is under investigation and the law of the land will take its course.
It throws up key issues in terms of transparency, governance and reporting standards.
Last week, speaking at the Winning Strategies forum in Dubai, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch advised business leaders in the Gulf to deal pro-actively with the media during a crisis. "The minute you expose it (a crisis), talk about it, it moves fast through the system and you're over it. If everybody knows, and everybody knows how you are dealing with it, you take away all the ammunition," said Welch.
This is where Deyaar seem to have erred in its judgment. To be fair, it did indeed report the case to the stock market and the regulator, but only after rumours began to spread and reports appear in the press.
Lapses of this nature will have serious implications for the credibility of the company involved, the industry, the market, the regulators and the entire system.
Warning
Delegates at last week's Corporate Governance Forum (CGF) in Dubai warned that the region has a long way to go before it meets international standards, while its breakneck growth and lagging controls made it prone to corporate failures in the nature of Enron and Barings Bank.
According to a survey of regional institutional investors by HSBC last year, nearly two-thirds of investors (64 per cent) said that poor corporate governance is 'a significant barrier' to market performance.
Despite the regional deficiencies in governance standards, it must be recognised that the UAE is one of the first countries in the Gulf that has recognised the urgent need to address the issue. The Dubai International Financial Centre's (DIFC) Hawkamah Institute is making pioneering efforts to raise the bar. As part of several of its proactive steps, it has recently announced the launch of an environmental corporate governance and sustainability indices for regional markets, in association with rating agency Standard & Poors.
Education is the key to kicking the old habits of stowing away the skeletons. Scandals and failures are the last thing any sensible person would wish for. When they do happen, we have to learn, for the sake of not repeating the mistakes.
According to a survey of regional institutional investors byHSBC last year, nearly two-thirdsof investors(64 per cent) said that poor corporate governance is 'a significant barrier' to market performance.
|
