|
SINGAPORE'S Commissioner of Charities (COC) has given its stamp of approval to seven large charities here, after conducting a governance review to assess corporate governance, internal controls and compliance with regulatory rules.
In a statement on Wednesday, the charity watchdog said the review has 'found them generally having proper systems and processes in place, and largely in compliance with the regulatory requirements and the Code of Governance'.
However, the COC said there was still room for improvement:
|
(a) Board Independence. Some charities have paid staff chairing their boards. This may compromise their boards' independence and objectivity as there is no clear separation of board and executive roles. Recognising the unique situation of religious charities where it may not be practical to require the separation of spiritual leadership from leadership of the governing board, COC has, nevertheless asked that they put in place measures or arrangements to manage potential problems arising from this conflicts of roles and certain decisions requiring the separation of roles.
(b) Conflict of Interest Policy. There is scope for improvement in formalising conflict of interest policy or procedures to manage potential and actual conflicts. There should be formal documentation of policies and procedures to manage conflicts of interest. This is particularly important where there are paid staff chairing and sitting on their board.
(c) Loans to related parties. Charities are allowed to extend loans if this is permitted in their governing instruments and in line with their charitable purposes. During the reviews, it was observed that some loans were extended to related parties without documented approval of the boards. There was no policy on the granting of loans to subsidiaries and related parties. The charities should have a loan policy and seek proper approval of all loans. Charities should also monitor the outcome of the projects which the loans are for and ensure the loans are repaid based on the agreed schedule.
(d) Donations to external parties. Some of the charities were observed to have made donations to external parties in order to further their charitable purposes. However the charities did not document their policies regarding such donations made. Charities should have proper policy that clearly spells out the application requirements, evaluation criteria and approval limits. Charities should also ensure that the external parties use the donations for the stated purposes.
from media release, "Governance Review of Seven Large Charities Found Them Largely in Compliance with Regulatory Requirements and Code of Governance", issued by The Office of the Commissioner of Charities, Sept 10, 2008.
|
For more The Straits Times stories, click here.
| 
