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Governance at BDC
Michel BergeronVP, Corporate Relations
Outline
1. An introduction to BDC
2. Canada’s approach to governance
3. Governance at BDC
4. Creating an environment conducive to proper governance
An Introduction to BDC
Mandate:To create and develop Canadian Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
Services offered to SMEs: Financial Services:
Term financing (direct)Venture capital (direct and indirect)
Consulting services
Close to 10B Cdn$ outstanding financing (approx. 9B US$)
94 branches 1,700 employees 27,000 clients
BDC
Canada’s approach to governance:
Arm’s length = Autonomy Counterbalanced by Accountability
and Transparency Need to have clearly defined roles
and structures through a well defined legal framework
Canada’s Governance Framework
Parliamentof Canada
Minister of Industry
BDC Board of Directors
BDCManagement
BDC ActFinancial
Administration Act
Parliament’s Oversight:
Annual Report (every year):Public
2 Auditors Private
Corporate Plan (every year)
Special Exam (every 5 years)
Legislative Review (every 10 years)
Access to Information Act (ongoing)
A fine balance between:
Autonomy:• non-partisan, non political provider of
service• in charge of its operations• able to resist inappropriate pressure• has a Board of Directors comprised of
independent directors
Accountability:• Management• Board• Minister• Parliament
Workplace environment
Core Values– Ethics– Client
connection– Team spirit– Accountability– Work-life
balance
Employee Code of Conduct, Ethics and Values
Cases of wrongdoing: referred to Audit Committee
Referral Policy
A closing remark
State-Owned Institutions:– people hold them to a higher standard
Laws and regulations:– lagging indicators of society’s
expectations
Our approach:– scan for rising expectations– follow best practices (often from the
private sector peers)– try to always stay ahead