Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) has organised a seminar titled “Organizational Sustainability: Role of Chartered/Company Secretary” on Monday.
Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) graced the occasion as the chief guest while M Anis Ud Dowla, president of Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC) was the special guest.
Hossain Sadat FCS, senior director, Corporate Affairs, at Grameenphone Limited presented a keynote paper on “Organizational Sustainability: Role of Chartered/Company Secretary.”
Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS, president of ICSB delivered the welcome speech and M Nurul Alam FCS, senior vice president of ICSB and chairman of the Seminar & Conference Sub Committee of ICSB chaired the session and moderated the session.
Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS, president of the Institute, delivered a welcome speech and thanked everyone for joining the seminar of ICSB.
He said that through this kind of Seminar, HR professionals of different corporate houses will get an overview and importance of the role of chartered secretaries for organizational sustainability.
Chartered/Company secretaries ensure executives and key employees understand the emerging trends in corporate sustainability and governance. He also mentioned that company secretaries are called Chief Governance Officers of a Company elsewhere in the world.
The Keynote Speaker Mr. Hossain Sadat FCS elaborately discussed the role of Chartered/Company Secretaries for organizational sustainability.
He said that, during this VUCA environment, organizational sustainability is a growing concern. The Chartered/Company Secretary plays a pivotal role in facilitating Responsible Business Conduct towards ensuring organizational long-term sustainability.”
Special Guest M Anis Ud Dowla thanked ICSB for arranging such an important Seminar. While discussing, he said that the Chartered Secretaries are the essential cogs of the corporate sectors who are executing the responsibilities through influencing and making supportive decisions for better Bangladesh.
He positively stated that due to playing the vital role of the Chartered Secretaries, companies are becoming technically and financially sound.
During the discussion, M Nurul Alam FCS, senior vice president of ICSB said that there was a very thoughtful discussion by the eminent speakers M Anis Ud Dowla and Naser Ezaz Bijoy which are an eye-opener for us.
He mentioned that the Company Secretaries play a vital role in ensuring the sustainability of an organization.
A Chartered Secretary apprises the board regarding the implementation status of board decisions and prepares prior meeting documents and shares them with the Director to assist in understanding the purpose of the agenda.
He addresses shareholders’ queries as a point of contact. His role is to bridge between the board and management.
In this seminar, Mohammad Alamgir, senior director, Human Resources, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Limited, Mohammed Ferdous Yusuf, chief human resources officer, bKash Limited, Monjurul Alam, head of human resources, Eastern Bank Limited and Mohammad Asadur Rahman FCS, senior general manager & head of HR and company secretary, Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited attended the program as Panel Discussants.
They said that the Company Secretary is an important professional aiding the efficient management of the corporate sector. Company Secretary is the compliance officer of the company, who has to interact, coordinate, integrate and co-operate with various other functional heads of a company.
Company secretaries are the primary source of advice on the conduct of business and this can be expanded into everything from legal advice, financial advice and advice to development strategy and corporate planning, etc.
A Company Secretary increases the brand image of his company, defends the corporation from litigation and provides direction and advice to the Board.
Chief Guest Prof. Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam thanked ICSB for organizing such an important Seminar.
While delivering his speech, he mentioned that the Government of Bangladesh is laying the highest emphasis to ensure corporate discipline and good governance in the corporate sector of the country.
With that objective in view, ICSB was established under an Act of Parliament i.e. Chartered Secretaries Act, 2010, to develop skilled professionals for the corporate sector.
He also said that companies should give higher importance to the role of their Company Secretary as an internal gatekeeper to improve corporate governance. To make the company sustainable the role of Chartered/Company Secretary is inevitable.
The programme was attended by a large number of HR professionals from different corporate houses, members of ICSB, government officials and professionals of different fields.
The discussion session was followed by an interactive session, where the Chief Guest, Special Guests, Keynote Speaker and Session Chairman answered various questions from the participants.
At the end, Oli Kamal FCS, council member and executive committee member of ICSB concluded the session with a vote of thanks to all the participants.
