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‘Better boards, companies, economies, and societies’ was defined as the purpose of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG), above the newly worded mission, vision and values.

“Purpose provides the reason a company or other organization exists, defining the core motive for being and the positive impact it aims to have on the world. For over a decade now, the BICG has set the agenda for corporate governance development in the Baltics, and in good corporate governance it all starts with the creation of effective boards, which then have transformative effects on their companies, helping to build better economies and societies,” says Rytis Ambrazevičius, President of the BICG.

Defining the purpose of an organisation is recommended as a basis for further strategic choices.

“Good corporate governance recommends that mission, vision and value statements should be made only after defining the purpose. While it is a relatively new practice, it can become a useful goalpost for value creation,” says Ambrazevičius.

Having defined the purpose, the Board of the BICG has updated the mission, vision and value statements as well.

PURPOSE

Better boards, companies, economies, and societies.

MISSION

To create an advanced ecosystem of good corporate governance in the Baltics.

VISION

To share the knowledge and be the voice of good corporate governance in the Baltics.

VALUES

Wisdom | Knowledge and competence in good corporate governance.

Sharing | Readiness to share the know-how and initiate the necessary change.

Excellence | Highest standards are applied by us and for us.

Integrity | Honesty and high ethical principles in all we do.

“While the intent of all statements, including our commitment to creating change and the standard of excellence, remains the same, it now emphasises not only the BICG as the competence centre for good corporate governance but also the wider community of our members and partners, who continue to build a new corporate governance ecosystem in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” says Ambrazevičius.

Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG) invites to attend the Board member education program in the year 2024.

The program is designed to introduce business owners, Board and Supervisory Council members as well as top executives to the best principles of corporate governance, providing a strong basis for their implementation in practice.

“It offers an opportunity to learn about the best practices in separating and fulfilling their particular responsibilities, to ensure long-term success of a company,” says Rytis Ambrazevičius, President of the BICG.

Topics of the education program are compiled based on the principles and recommendations on corporate governance by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group (IFC) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Education is held in the English language, it consists of three parts (two days each, six in total) and final examination.

Three separate sessions will be held in 2024.

First group:
• March 7^th and 8^th – first part in Vilnius, Lithuania;
• March 21^st and 22^nd – second part in Tallinn, Estonia;
• March 28^th and 29^th – third part in Riga, Latvia.

Second group:
• May 2^nd and 3^rd – first part in Vilnius, Lithuania;
• May 16^th and 17^th – second part in Tallinn, Estonia;
• May 23^rd and 24^th – third part in Riga, Latvia.

Third group:
• October 3^rd and 4^th – first part in Vilnius, Lithuania;
• October 10^th and 11^th – second part in Tallinn, Estonia;
• October 17^th and 18^th – third part in Riga, Latvia.

For the full introduction to the program, please see >>

INTRODUCTION (EN)

Please note that the number of places in the program is limited and priority is given to participants who are directly involved in planning and implementing good corporate governance practices in a company.

For more information, contact:

Rytis Ambrazevičius
President
Mob. +370 698 17011
E-mail rytis[at]bicg.eu

Andris Grafs
Vice President Latvia
Mob. +371 297 84407
E-mail andris[at]bicg.eu

Erik Sakkov
Country Manager Estonia
Mob. +372 502 1638
E-mail erik[at]bicg.eu

Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG) invites all graduates of the Board member education program to apply for the Chair education course that will be held in Stockholm on the 14-17 of November.

The program will focus on good corporate governance recommendations for an effective Board leadership, with the topics ranging from the Chair’s involvement in strategy, risk, ESG governance processes to their key relationships and role in the organisational Board work.

We are looking forward to welcoming Mr Staffan Bohman, Chair of Electrolux; Ms Katarina Bonde, Chair of Mentimeter; Ms Kathrine Löfberg, Chair of Löfbergs; Mr Lars G Nordström, former Chair of Vattenfall, as well as others among the experienced speakers of the course.

Among our hosts during the session will be Nasdaq, SEB and Telia.

Please note that Chair education program is open only to the graduates of the BICG Board member education course.

Shareholders, Board members and top managers are invited to apply, with the first priority to be given to active Chairs currently leading non-executive Boards (Padome in Latvia, Nõukogu in Estonia, Stebėtojų taryba or Valdyba in Lithuania).

Applications are open until the 8 of September.

To find full information about the program and for how to apply, please see here:

On May 25^th, the Board of the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) elected Rytis Ambrazevičius, President of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG), as the new Chair.

Headquartered in Brussels, ecoDa unites national institutes of directors in over 20 European countries, acting as a corporate governance expertise sharing network, a place for debate and a credible voice in the development of corporate governance related recommendations, including European level legislation.

“The main focus of all Board work is to steer companies to a long term, successful future. This means that directors, although often invisible in the public eye, are crucial creators of wellbeing for businesses, economies and sociaties. This is a tremendous task and responsibility. I am confident that Rytis will guide our community in focusing on the right subjects to help Board members overcome current and future challenges”, says Leena Linnainmaa, Secretary General of Directors’ Institute Finland and outgoing Chair of ecoDa.

The tenure of the Chair of the Board is two years.

“I am honored by the trust and will do my utmost to further strengthen the key activities of ecoDa as a proactive voice in the European corporate governance dialogue, and in promoting director professionalism to foster competitiveness across Europe. Among the important issues that ecoDa is dealing with right now, a high priority goes to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive as well as to the issue of how directors’ liability is dealt with in different member states”, says Rytis Ambrazevičius.

Among other things, ecoDa is also currently carrying out a survey on remuneration of non-executive directors and a study of how the notion of independence of directors has evolved. 

BICG joined ecoDa in 2018, with Rytis Ambrazevičius being elected to the Board of ecoDa in 2019.

For more information: https://ecoda.eu/.

^{Rytis Ambrazevičius, President of the BICG; Béatrice Richez-Baum, Director General of ecoDa; and Leena Linnainmaa, Secretary General of Directors’ Institute Finland and previous Chair of ecoDa.}

On April 21^st, Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG) held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Baltic Corporate Governance Conference 2023, in Vilnius.

AGM focused on the highlights of BICG activities during the previous year, while the conference spotlighted how good governance is a key tool in fostering business resilience among many current uncertainties.

AGM

Members of the BICG approved the annual activity and audited financial reports during the AGM, and the overall Annual Report 2022 is now available online here.

“An especially meaningful milestone was reached last year, when the number of graduates of the BICG Board member education program arrived at one thou­sand. It is a legacy that will continue to make a real impact on Baltic businesses practices for many years to come. At the same time, our voice keeps strengthening even beyond the Baltics, through such initiatives as the much-needed guidance for Boards how to engage with ESG prepared last autumn, etc.,” says Rytis Ambrazevičius, President of the BICG.

Board elections were held as well, with Kārlis Danēvičs, Management Board member of SEB in Latvia, and Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner of COBALT Lithuania, re-elected for their third tenures of 3 years, while Ansi Arumeel, a Strategic Advisor from Estonia; and Simonas Gustainis, co-Managing Partner at BaltCap, are joining as new members of the Board.

New members are stepping in as Lina Kapčinskienė, Managing Director at Baltic Agro Machinery, and Kaarel Ots, CEO at Nasdaq Tallinn, have stepped down from their positions.

“I thank Lina and Kaarel for their insight and for their dedication in helping to make BICG the impactful organisation it is today. At the same time, I want to welcome Ansi and Simonas, who will contribute their own perspective and ideas,” says Mr Ambrazevičius.

The AGM has also elected members of the Nomination Committee, with their tenure newly extended from 1 to 3 years.

Aiga Ārste-Avotiņa, Managing Partner at Amrop Latvia, and Marja-Liisa Soone, Senior Legal Counsel at Bolt, were re-elected to continue their work, while Nijolė Kelpšaitė, Managing Partner at J. Friisberg & Partners Lithuania, has stepped down and Šarūnas Dyburis, Managing Patner at AIMS International Lithuania, is joining for the first time.

More information about the BICG leadership can be found online here.

Baltic Corporate Governance Conference 2023

The annual governance conference welcomed speakers from Lithuania, Latvia, Norway and Italy, to discuss how good governance can be a key tool in strengthening business resilience, in light of current geopolitical and other uncertainties.

Chiara Mosca, Vice-Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), shared insight into the current revision of OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, considered to be the international standard of good governance and previously updated in 2015.

Baiba Apine, Chair of the Supervisory Board at the Ukrainian Oschadbank, discussed the work of the Board during the times of war.

Edvinas Kerza, Business Resilience Director at Lithuanian Railways, shared his extensive experience into improving resilience in the area of cybersecurity.

And Frithjof Lund, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, spoke about the crucial role Boards play in fostering resilience in all areas of a business.

Full program of the conference

We thank our corporate member Swedbank for hosting us.