Governance Ireland 2021 – Creating a sustainable future

Networking, round table for sponsors, technical support room

Welcome and chair’s opening remarks

Salvador Nash, President, The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland - Irish Region

Opening keynote address
David McRedmond, Chief Executive Officer, An Post

Panel discussion: Integrating sustainability

Environmental and social governance challenges are amongst the top priorities for organisations. How can organisations realise the importance of placing ESG at the heart of what they do? How should they engage with the process of integrating sustainability in strategy, processes and communications? What metrics can be used to drive impact?

Moderator:
Ruairi Cosgrove, Director, Entity Governance and Compliance, PwC

Panelists:
Ronan Deasy, Company Secretary, Kerry Group plc
Shane O’Reilly, Director, KPMG Sustainable Futures
Joe Gill, Director of Origination and Corporate Broking, Goodbody Capital Markets

Stretch break

Companies Registration Office technical briefing

Companies Registration Office will provide an update on the impact of recently introduced filing obligations and advise on any upcoming legislative changes which will impact Irish registered entities.

Moderator:
Conor Sweeney, Founder and Managing Director, CLS Chartered Secretaries

Panelists:
Maureen O'Sullivan, Registrar, Companies Registration Office
Dr David McFadden, Legal Advisor, Companies Registration Office

Breakout 1: Streamed sessions

Option one: Accountability Regime

In recent times regulatory authorities across the globe have been working on measures to strengthen individual accountability of senior individuals within the financial services industry in an effort to improve culture and drive the right behaviours. The Central Bank of Ireland have indicated its reforms in this area and proposed Individual Accountability Framework, which includes a Senior Executive Accountability Regime. This session will explore the proposed changes, potential challenges and practical steps governance professionals and Boards can be taking now in preparation. It will also consider some of the lessons learnt from the UK and other jurisdictions.

Melissa Scully, Director and Corporate Governance Leader, Deloitte Ireland
Sarah McLaughlin, Group Secretary & Head of Corporate Governance, Bank of Ireland
Clare Gilligan, Bank of Ireland

Option two: How COVID-19 is shaping the world of work going forward

This session will look at how some form of remote working is with us to stay, with most organisations transitioning  to some form of hybrid model.  This will have implications for the way leaders organise and manage their teams, including a review of benefit packages, new skills required and the impact of a distributed workforce on performance management, collaboration and on-boarding new joiners.  The key question that will be addressed is how organisations need to prepare for this going forward and how they can build “back to better”.

Patrick Gallen, Partner, Grant Thornton

Networking break with your peers and round table discussion with sponsor

Round table: Digital Transformation in the Boardroom and Beyond

In today's landscape, organisations need their directors and executives to be agile, nimble and empowered to make smart decisions. Without the right tools, the speed of business and pace of change can introduce risks to the organisation, from how they collaborate, to efficiency of governance processes, and what tools they use to do so. In our virtual world, legacy systems exacerbate these risks—outdated technology systems and performance models, general purpose collaboration tools, homegrown, manual systems, you name it—all exposing the organisation to unnecessary risk.

Will Wastell, Regional Sales Director, Diligent

How to run effective Board Meetings in a virtual environment

A very practical session which will address the challenges of running virtual Board Meetings. In an Q&A format, Adrienne will outline how Company Secretaries can implement approaches which will help them to avoid the pitfalls and challenges that come from running remote Board Meetings. The aim of the Workshop will be for participants to come away with some practical tips and hacks they can implement for immediate impact.

Claire Dunwoody, Business Director, Robert Walters
Adrienne Lonergan, Company Secretary, Wells Fargo Bank International UC

Break

Breakout 2: Streamed sessions

Option one: Tax and accounting essentials for the company secretary

It is important that company secretaries know the tax and accounting issues that companies are currently managing to understand the rationale behind certain transactions. This session provides an overview of some of the tax and accounting areas which companies are currently dealing with.

Moderator:
Fiona Barry, Senior Manager, PwC

Panelists:
Efe Okome, Director, PwC Accounting Advisory Services
Paul Wallace, Senior Manager, PwC Tax Solutions Centre

Option two: Driving globalisation centrally with strategic entity management and compliance practices

Centralising the corporate record is a critical business imperative for all organisations. At a certain stage of growth, organisations will require greater input and collaboration across functional teams, need more complex reporting, and tools to strategically visualize the impact of changing the entity and subsidiary corporate structure. We will discuss the changing operational needs as organisations grow, the challenges this can present, and how technology can be leveraged to scale growth efficiently.

Sulaiman Durrani, Regional Sales Director, Diligent
Maya Sharma, Regional Sales Director, Diligent

Networking lunch with your peers

Recap and scene-setting

Salvador Nash, President, The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland 

Diversity and inclusion in the boardroom

The business case for gender-balanced business leadership is now well established. Brid Horan will speak on the need for change and progress on the work of Balance for Better Business, a government supported and business-led initiative which has set targets for Irish businesses.

Brid Horan, Co-Chair, Balance for Better Business

Organisation culture to drive change

An organisation’s culture is a critical component of its success. However, achieving the desired target culture of an organisation requires an effective change programme the scale of which can vary from subtle to transformational. Níall Fitzgerald will share insights on what senior business leaders and their boards can do to positively influence culture across Ireland.

Níall Fitzgerald, Head of Ethics and Governance, Chartered Accountants Ireland

Panel discussion: Diversity, inclusion and organisational change

Moderator:
Dr. Tom Ward, Senior Governance Specialist, IPA

Panelists:
Brid Horan, Co-Chair, Balance for Better Business
Níall Fitzgerald, Head of Ethics and Governance, Chartered Accountants Ireland
James Meagher, Head of Compliance, Permanent, TSB
Emer Mullen, CFO and Company Secretary, Sabeo

Stretch break

Breakout 3: Streamed sessions

Option one: Best Practices On How to Gather, Track, and Report on Corporate ESG Data

Reporting on your ESG data has become imperative, and not just for investors. More than ever, consumers are making buying decisions based on how a company acts, and employees stay longer and are happier at companies that align with their own beliefs. However, demonstrating ESG efforts can be difficult. Collecting the right ESG data and reporting is complex and time-consuming. This session will look at best practices on gathering, tracking, and reporting ESG data and best practices to simplify and expedite a very complex problem and drive to action.

Phil Redman, Offering Lead, OneTrust ESG

Option two - The company secretary – an integral participant in Irish Funds

The company secretary holds an integral an increasingly important role in assisting the board of fund and management companies with investment fund governance. This session will provide a summary overview of the company secretarial role in the Irish regulated investment funds space, focusing on co-ordination of the board meeting process; ongoing interaction of the company secretary with appointed service providers and the role of the company secretary with regard to the provision of scheduled updates of various ongoing compliance and filing requirements to the board.

Jenny McGowran, Head of Corporate Services, Simmons & Simmons
Gavin Coleman, Director, Financial Administration Services and Compliance, Matheson

Networking break with your peers and round table discussion with sponsors

Roundtable: Evaluating and Choosing ESG Metrics That Match Your Organisational Goals

Join OneTrust on their stand for a discussion around how to use the right ESG metrics to support your agenda along with common issues and helpful solutions.

Speaker:
Phil Redman, OneTrust ESG

So you’ve been hacked! is it more down to bad governance or bad luck?

A discussion on what role can strong cyber governance can play in stopping you getting attacked or accelerating your recovery with emphasis on ransomware attacks in light of recent events.

Frank Satterwhite, Cyber Security Principal, 1600 Cyber

Closing remarks

Salvador Nash, President, Irish Region, The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland - Irish Region

Closing keynote address

Keith Barry, Mind Magician