On last July 9^th, the Corporate Governance Committee of Borsa Italiana S.p.A. laid down new rules in its Code of Conduct, in order to improve what provided for about corporate social responsibility.

Such concept, of US origin, refers to all that ethic topics that are strictly linked to the exercise of the corporate activities in so far as they have an impact on the social environment in terms of confidence and investments growth.

 

The new rules, the adoption of which is provided within the end of 2016 business year, put a legally binding obligation on listed companies to adopt risk assess mechanisms, through a correct allocation of powers to the management body and to the supervisory one. These mechanisms should be develop starting from the estimated risk degree (so called risk appetite) in the middle-long period, referring to every corporate sector and no longer only - as in the past - to the financial one.

The management body shall perform the risk evaluation and the check activity on the latter, by the following activities:

1) the risk evaluation in terms of impact on the corporate activity as well as on its sustainability;

2) the control on the correct functioning of internal audit committee calling for the control and the management of the risk (by this way a double level control or double control will be assessed);

3) organizing activities of prevention and removal of all that sectors that may undermine the corporate interests and the fairness of the information to be provided to the audience of investors.

 

At the raise of the question why such implementing of rules, the answer could be given in terms of a growing sensibility linking to the European Directive 2014/95/UE, the adoption of which shall be completed by Italy within 2016. The European provision extends the range of a logic that was already joined by the UK legislation, which at the paragraph 172 of the Companies Act provides the duty of the management body to perform the corporate activity not only in the interest of shareholders but also in the stakeholders one.

Consequently, the European legislator considered as essential the prevention of risks linked to the environment protection, social policies and protection of human rights, that are not to be regarded as an ancillary task respect to the financial stability of companies.

 

To conclude, this is an ethic version of the company activity, as a nothing else different than the prelude to the course change towards all those neophyte tendencies, actually known under the name of  “ethic finance”.