Mervyn King: "Integrated Thinking and Reporting is Critical for Corporate Directors"

Start of Interview [1:45]Mervyn King's origin story as an attorney in South Africa [2:51]His first foray into corporate boards and later senior management roles [4:30]Why he was asked to form a Corporate Governance Committee in 1992 [5:30]The call from Nelson Mandela [06:07]Professor Lynn Paine's article: The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership  [9:43]How King framed the role of the corporation in the first King I Report in 1992 [12:10]"Decisions by the Board need to be made in the best long term interest of the company, this  incapacitated artificial person that has no mind, no heart, no soul and no conscience." "The directors must make a decision in the long term interest of the health of the company, rather than just in the wealth of the shareholders" [13:10]"The 20th century became the century of unsustainable development"  [14:02]Joining the U.N. by invitation of Kofi Annan to review governance of U.N. agencies: "that's where I started learning about sustainability"  [16:15]The premise of the King II Report: to address sustainability reporting in South Africa (2002) [17:22]King on Larry Fink's (BlackRock) Letters to CEOs [21:17]Accounting for sustainability was started as "Connected Reporting" by Sir Michael Peat [22:18]The premise of the King III Report, to include integrated reporting (2009)  [23:02]Addressing Accounting for Sustainability organized by Prince Charles in the U.K. [24:30]The IIRC Integrated Reporting Framework (2013) [25:06]"One of the proudest things in my life is that integrated thinking has been achieved" [26:21]King on the BTR Statement on the Purpose of the Corporation "You are not accountable to the stakeholders, you are accountable to the company" [26:45]"Boards have to spend more time understanding financials, including the three critical dimensions for sustainable development in a resource constrained world: 1) Economy, 2) Environment and 3) Society." [30:05]The premise of the King IV Report: reporting should be outcome based. [32:00] Focus on four outcomes:Value creation in a sustainable manner in a resource constrained world.Effective Controls (with informed oversight by the Board).Trust and confidence of the community in which the company operates (legitimacy).Effective Leadership.King on race, inter-generational ("add millenials on your board") and gender diversity on boards  [35:44]"The first thing on the minds of Gen Z is climate change. That's the elephant in the room" [39:12]"The mindset of boards has to be collaborative, compromising, with a long term outlook (particularly on climate change)" [41:13]The lessons from South Africa on racial diversity in boards [42:53]Governments should amend corporate laws to reflect that being a director is a very important profession.[44:24]King has tried to persuade governments to create apprenticeship programs for directorships "the U.S. should do this to help young African American professionals get into boards, creating a wider pool of candidates" [46:00]A book that influenced his life: "The Principles of Modern Company Law" by L.C.B Gower (1954)  [48:57]Living person he most admires: Lynn Forrester de Rothschild, the founder and CEO of the Coalition of Inclusive Capitalism [53:38]King on ESG and inclusive capitalism [56:44]How to find Mervyn King online:https://www.mervynking.co.za/ https://www.wits.ac.za/staff/academic-a-z-listing/k/mervynkingwitsacza/___Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License  You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License