MORE non-executive directors and a separation of the roles of chairman and managing director are being urged by the chairman of the Institute of Directors, Mr George Humble.
The call was prompted by the findings of an MBA (Master of Business Administration) dissertation which revealed that 54.7 per cent of board members were non-executive directors while 55.2 per cent of chairmen doubled as managing directors in Hongkong's public companies.
The research, by Mr Lam Wai-nang of Hongkong University, was done amid growing concern about corporate governance which prompted the report by Sir Adrian Cadbury in Britain.
Two of the main points in the Cadbury report were a recommendation for a greater proportion of non-executive directors and the conflict of interests between the role of chairman and managing director.
''Non-executive directors are a good thing because they bring with them their special knowledge . . . They are not shareholders and not tied to the company,'' said Mr Humble, adding that they were independent decision-makers keeping an eye on executive directors.
But he noted that the proportion of 54.7 per cent could be improved as it was low compared with some countries.
In Britain, for instance, a board with five to six executive directors usually had nine or 10 non-executive directors. This gives a ratio of non-executive to executive directors of about 65 per cent.