Lifting the veil on secrecy is good for investor relations

In the world of global banking, cast as the villain of the piece, there has been some progress. How far the former masters of the universe go in lifting the veil on the most sensitive of subjects - their remuneration - is still a debate in progress.

Emirati investors follow the stock market developments on their monitor screens at the Dubai Financial Market. Would investor confidence be improved if bank bosses adopted more transparency? EPA/ALI HAIDERShow less

On his day, Larry Summers has a great turn of phrase. The former US Treasury secretary, who is now President Barack Obama's main economic adviser, said at the outset of the financial crisis in 2008: "In this age of electronic money, investors are no longer seduced by a financial dance of a thousand veils.

"Only hard and accurate information on reserves, current accounts and monetary and fiscal conditions will keep capital from fleeing precipitously at the first sign of trouble."

The crisis had come about, at least partly, because financial institutions had not provided "hard and accurate" information about liabilities hidden from the gaze of investors, especially the esoteric and impenetrable property-related derivatives that eventually brought the whole house crashing down.

The jury is still out on whether the West has learnt one lesson of the crisis: that well-informed investors tend to be more receptive to bad news, more willing to listen to management explanations before reaching their decision to hold or sell, and more likely to support incumbent management even when the climate turns nasty.

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In the world of global banking, cast as the villain of the piece, there has been some progress. Measures adopted under the latest Basel agreements have generally been good for the cause of better investor relations. How far the former masters of the universe go in lifting the veil on the most sensitive of subjects - their remuneration - is still a debate in progress.

In the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, there has been an improvement in some areas of communication with investors and other stakeholders. One of the reasons the Dubai World restructuring was agreed in a comparatively short time was the fact that creditor banks were given hard and accurate information at an early stage. It was not usually good news, of course, but that's one of the challenges of investor relations: how to communicate bad news without the investor, or creditor, knee-jerking to a "sell". It's quite an art.

In Dubai, where the challenge was greatest, there have been some successes. The emirate won widespread praise for the level of detail that accompanied an updated bond prospectus last year. Companies such as DP World, Emirates NBD and du, meanwhile, have been recognised by Middle East investor-relations professionals for running efficient and successful communications units.

On the whole, the post-crisis reaction to the key issue of investor-relations transparency should be applauded. So far, so good.

There is still work to be done. One banker, involved in the step-by-step renegotiation of the liabilities of one of the components of Dubai Inc, complained to me that his bank, with some hundreds of millions at stake, was having trouble even getting up-to-date asset valuations from the debtor. "It's like pulling teeth," he said.

The momentum from the investor-relations industry is not slackening, however. Just last week Hawkamah, Dubai's institute for corporate governance, joined forces with the ratings agency Standard & Poor's to launch the region's first tradeable index of stocks ranked according to environmental, social and corporate governance criteria. Transparency and sound investor-relations principles are, of course, essential elements of good governance.

By linking a company's equity-price performance to how good and transparent a corporate citizen it is, companies will be able to see the very tangible cash benefits of good governance, including sound investor relations.

Hawkamah has adopted the cause of good investor relations with enthusiasm, it seems. I hear that in the near future it will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Middle East Investor Relations Society to advance corporate-sector reform and improve upon corporate governance and investor relations in the Middle East.

Under the memorandum of understanding, Hawkamah and the society will also lobby for legal and regulatory improvements to help cultivate good governance and investor-relations principles, and carry on the job of further professionalising investor relations, via training and standardisation of qualifications, among the region's communications executives.

The society is an organisation on the rise. It has given the cause of good investor relations an impetus in the region, and the UAE in particular, that is slowly but inevitably producing results in the form of better communication practices between corporations and their stakeholders.

In particular, it has spotted the increasing importance of communication with debt holders as a vital element of the relationship. With debt levels in many parts of the region still comparatively high, and rescheduling or restructuring negotiations continuing, it is becoming one of the key issues facing the region's corporate and financial sectors.

The society has a new acting chairman: Paul Reynolds, the managing director of Rothschild Middle East debt business, who will give it a shot in the arm. Involved at the sharp end as adviser to Dubai World during last year's restructuring, the investor relations cause can only benefit now he has thrown his considerable weight behind it.

Investor relations in the Middle East is an idea whose time has come. If the veils of corporate secrecy can be dropped quickly, Larry Summers, and many others, will surely approve.