Certificate in Corporate Governance in United States

The AGRC Certificate in Corporate Governance provides participants with a thorough understanding of a topic that has gained increasing significance and attention amongst corporations, regulators, and researchers. At the same, the Certificate offers guidance as to how corporations can best prepare in creating solid governance structures that will help them deal with the myriad of modern-day corporate challenges and risks.

About the Certificate

The concept of corporate governance has featured regularly in discussions, both within the professional and academic community, since the 1990s and has become even more prominent following significant cases of corporate failure that had adverse effects on the global interconnected economy.

The link between poor corporate governance practices and the excessive taking of risks that led to the downfall or bail-out of important financial institutions necessitated a discussion on how to strengthen corporate governance and protect the economy against similar cases in the future.

Effectively, new regulatory requirements have been established, while existing codes of governance have been revised. Such efforts aim to focus on requirements that should be fulfilled by an organisation’s management body and enhance three areas of governance: remuneration, risk management, and internal control.

In this programme, participants will review key definitions of corporate governance and the benefits associated with the implementation of good corporate governance practices. More specifically, participants will look in greater detail at the Board of Directors, covering the duties and responsibilities of Directors, the composition of the Board, the role of key post-holders, the many Board committees and how they are structured, and how a Board’s performance can be evaluated.

Additionally, the Certificate places emphasis on how internal control mechanisms need to be designed and underlines how useful the three-lines of defence model may be. The certificate also covers the importance of maintaining strong and productive relations within the Board, ones that are based on trust and which allow for effective meetings and interaction to be achieved.

Lastly, emphasis is placed on the modern concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental Social Governance (ESG), and Sustainability, and how the Board needs to respond to these trends as they gain increased relevance and importance for the corporate world.

Overall, the knowledge obtained by undertaking this Certificate is an invaluable asset for professionals looking to enhance their career prospects in Corporate Governance.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By acquiring the Certificate, participants are expected to be able to:

• Review key corporate governance definitions that will allow for an understanding of the term and the importance it carries.
• Summarize the many benefits of a robust and effective corporate governance practice for your organisation.
• Understand how Boards function, how they are structured in terms of Board Committees, and how the composition of Boards should be shaped.
• Review the duties and responsibilities of Directors, identify the role of key post-holders, and understand the importance of building relations between Directors that are based on trust.
• Explain the need for diversity and inclusion in the Board of Directors.
• Describe the importance of Board committees covering areas such as audit, risk, and remuneration.
• Study how internal control mechanisms apply in a corporation and highlight the relevance of the three-lines of defence.
• Design effective and successful Board meetings.
• Identify the importance of ESG and CSR programmes to an organisation’s corporate governance practices.

Certificate Content

Introduction to Corporate Governance

• Definition of Corporate Governance
• Ethics and Governance
• Key Relevant Governance Theories
• Agency Theory
• Stakeholder Theory

The Benefits of Corporate Governance

• Board of Directors
• Duties and Responsibilities of Directors
• Specific Requirements for Financial Institutions
• Board Appointments and Composition
• Independent and Non-Executive Directors (INEDs)
• The Importance of Diversity in a Board
• Committee Structure – Board Committees
• Committee Structure
• Audit Committee
• Risk Committee
• Nominations Committee
• Remuneration Committee
• Key Post-Holders in a Board
• Chair of the Board
• Senior Independent Director (SID)
• CEO (ex-Officio Board Member)
• Evaluation & Continuous Development
• Knowledge of Industry and Organisation

Internal Control Mechanisms

• Internal Controls and Risk Management
• Three-Lines of Defence model

Intra-Board Relations

• Effective Meetings

CSR, ESG and Sustainability

• Definitions of Relevant Terms
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Environmental Social Governance (ESG)
• Sustainability
• The Business Case for CSR, ESG, and Sustainability
• ESG, Sustainability, and the Role of the Board

Prerequisites

No previous knowledge or experience is required though it is assumed that participants have good knowledge of English and a sound educational background.

Target Audience

This course is ideal for anyone wishing to be introduced to the main regulatory provisions in financial services and trends in corporate governance. Professionals carrying out the roles of directors, members of the Board, senior managers, lawyers, company secretaries, compliance and risk officers, and consultants may benefit from this course. It is also suitable to professionals pursuing regulatory CPDs in financial regulation.

Certificate Format

• Register at any time for this online, open certificate.
• Study on your own time and at your own pace. You have up to 3 months to complete the certificate.
• Assessed by an online multiple-choice exam.

Exam Format

• Type: Multiple choice, closed book, online exam
• Duration: One (1) hour
• Pass mark: 70%
• Number of questions: 40
• Attempts: Two (2) attempts to pass the exam

What’s Included

• 15-to-20 hours of self-paced online interactive learning including analysis of four practical case studies
• One year of free AGRC membership
• Practice questions
• Online exam
• AGRC certificate

Completion Requirements

Success in the final test of 40 MCQs for the completion and award of the Certificate in Corporate Governance issued by The Association of Governance, Risk & Compliance. The pass mark is 70% and two attempts are permitted. The final test is 60 minutes.