TSX Group is latest Directors College sponsor
The Hamilton Spectator
Monday, September 15, 2003
Page: D9
Section: Business
Source: The Hamilton Spectator

The TSX Group of Companies is the latest national sponsor of a new program at McMaster that will teach board members to behave.

The Directors College at McMaster will be offering professional development and certification or corporate directors (a C.Dir designation) -- the first of its kind in Canada -- starting this fall.

"We are encouraged to see organizations like McMaster and the Conference Board of Canada responding to the progressive evolution in our corporate governance landscape in a way that helps ensure the vitality of the capital markets," said Barbara Stymiest, CEO of the TSX Group, which includes the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Markets, TSX Datalinx and TSX Technologies.

TSX joins Ernst & Young and the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) as national sponsors. The Institute for Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) has also endorsed the program.

"Given the key role of directors and corporate secretaries in applying proper boardroom practices, corporations need to ensure that these individuals meet a professional standard," said Lynn Beauregard, ICSA's executive director.

"The Directors College curriculum covers all the formal regulatory issues for directors and also addresses the informal skills of building effective and appropriate relationships with senior management."

The Directors College -- a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and the DeGroote School of Business -- has a curriculum that addresses the formal rules and requirements, but also emphasizes the "soft side" of director performance: board dynamics, board behaviour, and the interplay between the board and management.

The program also explores the relationship between governance and corporate social responsibility. The college is being run independently of the corporate director community.

Dr. Jay Lorsch, the Louis Kirstein Professor of Human Relations at the Harvard Business School, is a recent addition to the Directors College's faculty. He's written more than a dozen books on corporate governance and board performance.

Spaces are filling for both the November program in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the next offering in February 2004.

Information about registering for The Directors College may be obtained at: www.thedirectorscollege.com.

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