Chandra J writes to Monetary Board

The responsibility of a board secretary to advise the

 chairperson, the board and top management on legal and 

statutory compliance and 

risk management

Good governance activist Chandra Jayaratne has written to the Monetary Board on the responsibility of a Board Secretary to advice the Chairperson, the Board and Top management on legal and statutory compliance and risk management. Following are excerpts of the letter. 

I am sure you will agree with me that the Codes of Secretarial Best Practice places an obligation and an expectation that the secretary of the board will be responsible for advising and guiding the board in its deliberations and decision making, in regard to legal and statutory compliance requirements. 

The board secretaries are often expected to develop and oversee the systems that ensure that the institution complies with all applicable codes of conduct and ethics, in addition to its legal and statutory requirements. Further a board secretary is expected to play an active role in risk management and in mitigating risk of institutional and personal liability of board members and top management, as well as in mitigating risks of reputation risks.

In recognition of the above accountability, kindly review the under noted statutory provisions applicable in Sri Lanka, and address the need for you to brief the chairman, board members and top management of the consequential compliance commitments  and essential risk management processes accountability of the board and the top management;

Chapter 26 of the Legislative Enactments – Bribery – Being an act to provide for the prevention and punishment of bribery and to make consequential provisions relating to the operation of other written law (1 March, 1954,) where under *Part V - Offences other than bribery – Includes Section 70 –Corruption – brought into force by the enactment [§ 7,20 1994.] which  reads as;

70. Any public servant who, with intent, to cause wrongful or unlawful loss to the Government, or to confer a wrongful or unlawful benefit, favour or advantage on himself or any person, or with knowledge, that any wrongful or unlawful loss will be caused to any person or to the Government, or that any wrongful or unlawful benefit, favour or advantage will be conferred on any person- 

(a) does, or forbears to do, any act, which he is empowered to do by virtue of his office as a public servant; 

(b) induces any other public servant to perform, or refrain from performing, any act, which such other public servant is empowered to do by virtue of his office as a public servant; 

(c) uses any information coming to his knowledge by virtue of his office as a public servant; 

(d) participates in the making of any decision by virtue of his office as a public servant; 

(e) induces any other person, by the use, whether directly or indirectly, of his office as such public servant to perform, or refrain from performing, any act, 

shall be guilty of the offence of corruption and shall upon summary trial and conviction by a Magistrate be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand rupees or to both such imprisonment and fine.