6 Feb 2008

Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, announced today that it will be hosting a workshop for the GCC Board of Directors Institute (BDI) next week (11th to 14th  February) at the Banyan Tree Resort in Bahrain.

Topics to be discussed at the workshop will include the roles and accountabilities of Board Directors, their selection, development and evaluation, succession matters and Board structures, processes and protocols.

Faculty members teaching at the workshop are from McKinsey & Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers, Heidrick & Struggles, Allen & Overy, Investcorp, Saudi Aramco, and the Saudi Capital Market Authority. In addition, the workshop will have two guest speakers: Ambassador Linda Tsao Yang, Chair of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, and Christer Gardell, CEO of Cevian Capital, an activist manager. Gary Long, Investcorp’s President and Chief Operating Officer, and McKinsey & Co. Director Zafer Achi, will open the workshop. Participants will include board members from around 20 of the largest corporations in the GCC.

Investcorp’s Head of Business Development, Ramzi AbdelJaber said:  “The objective of these workshops is twofold: first, to strengthen board member capabilities through the sharing of best practices and pragmatic experiences and, second, to create a regional network of board members by providing a venue for networking and experience-exchange.”

This workshop, hosted by Investcorp, is the second following an inaugural workshop hosted by Saudi Aramco last year.

The BDI is a not-for-profit initiative aimed at increasing the understanding and awareness of directors in large GCC corporations of the issues and challenges faced by boards in the region. The BDI was formed through an initiative led by several founding corporate partners (Investcorp, Saudi Aramco, SABIC, and Zain), professional advisory firms (McKinsey & Co., PWC, Heidrick and Struggles, Allen & Overy), and regulatory authorities (CMA Saudi Arabia).