(ii) Construct the argument against Professor West’s opinion, and in favour of Professor L

Question

(ii) Construct the argument against Professor West’s opinion, and in favour of Professor Leroi’s opinion that

a principles-based approach would be preferable in developing countries. Your answer should consider

the particular situations of developing countries. (10 marks)

Answer 1

正确答案：
(ii) Principles-based approach
Advantages of a principles-based approach
The rigour with which governance systems are applied can be varied according to size, situation, stage of development
of business, etc. Organisations (in legal terms) have a choice to the extent to which they wish to comply, although they
will usually have to ‘comply or explain’. Explanations are more accepted by shareholders and stock markets for smaller
companies.
Obeying the spirit of the law is better than ‘box ticking’ (‘sort of business you are’ rather than ‘obeying rules’). Being
aware of overall responsibilities is more important than going through a compliance exercise merely to demonstrate
conformance.
Avoids the ‘regulation overload’ of rules based (and associated increased business costs). The costs of compliance have
been a cause of considerable concern in the United States.
Self-regulation (e.g. by Financial Services Authority in the UK) rather than legal control has proven itself to underpin
investor confidence in several jurisdictions and the mechanisms are self-tightening (quicker and cheaper than legislation)
if initial public offering (IPO) volumes fall or capital flows elsewhere.
Context of developing countries
Developing countries’ economies tend to be dominated by small and medium sized organisations (SMEs). It would be
very costly and probably futile, to attempt to burden small businesses with regulatory requirements comparable to larger
concerns.
Having the flexibility to ‘comply or explain’ allows for those seeking foreign equity to increase compliance whilst those
with different priorities can delay full compliance. In low-liquidity stock markets (such as those in some developing
countries) where share prices are not seen as strategically important for businesses, adopting a more flexible approach
might be a better use of management talent rather than ‘jumping through hoops’ to comply with legally-binding
constraints.
The state needs to have an enforcement mechanism in place to deal with non-compliance and this itself represents a
cost to taxpayers and the corporate sector. Developing countries may not have the full infrastructure in place to enable
compliance (auditors, pool of NEDs, professional accountants, internal auditors, etc) and a principles-based approach
goes some way to recognise this.