du’s Company Secretary, VP of Board Relations and Corporate Governance chosen as a panelist at the Yale Governance Forum

Spreading the word about du’s Corporate Governance initiatives to an international audience, UAE National Mahmood Hussain Ali Ahmad, Company Secretary and Vice President of Board Relations and Corporate Governance, du, recently participated as a panelist at the sixth Yale Governance Forum.

The event was hosted by the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, at the Yale School of Management, and moderated by James Shinn a professor at Princeton's University School of Engineering and Applied Science. Mahmood’s fellow panelists at the Yale Governance Forum included Zhiqu Chen, professor of Finance at Yale School of Management, Peter Dehnen, Principal, Germany Boardroom and Eliane Alexio Lustosa, Partner, Triscorp Investimentos (Brazil).

The two-day forum attracted over 200 leaders from the global corporate governance community, including institutional investors, corporate directors and executives, regulators, academics, rating agencies and practitioners from the governance community across the world, with a focus on discussing the current issues faced in the field.

“Spreading the message of du’s exemplary corporate governance practices to an audience composed of such knowledgeable individuals was an honour,” said Mahmood. “To be chosen as a panelist is to be recognized as being an innovator in the sector, and we deserve to be acknowledged for our award-winning efforts in the corporate governance field.”

Commenting on the event, Osman Sultan, CEO, du, said, “We would like to congratulate Mahmood for his participation as a panelist at the Yale Governance Forum, and for his successful representation of du among such a prestigious selection of corporate governance professionals – which believe is a reflection of the growing recognition of Emiratis on the global stage. Our belief is that a proactive corporate governance culture is the key to not only enhancing performance within the company, but to boosting investor and regulator confidence, too. That we were chosen to share our views at such a significant event suggests that we are well on our way to realizing our goal of becoming the leader for corporate governance practice in the region.”

du’s code of corporate governance has received several awards recently. Among these was placing fifth in Standard & Poor’s new Hawkamah Pan Arab ESG Index, in which du was one of only three UAE companies to place amongst the top 10, and being awarded Best Investor Relations by CFO for Middle East (2010), from the Middle East Investor Relations Society. For a complete list of all awards, please visit http://www.du.ae/en/about/corporate-governance/awardsandachievements.

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