On November 29, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The board of directors of Belarusian commercial banks will have to include at least two independent directors from 2013. This is stated in the instruction on the organisation of corporate governance of a bank, a non-banking credit and financial institution, approved by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank No. 557 of October 30, 2012, officially published today on the National Legal Internet Portal, BelTA correspondent reports. The resolution comes into force on January 22, 2013. According to the instruction, the main function of an independent director is to participate in the work of the bank's board of directors when making decisions on the bank's development strategy, assessing the compliance of the executive bodies' activities with the chosen strategy, defining the policy for managing conflicts of interest and resolving conflicts of interest involving shareholders, protecting the interests of the bank's minority shareholders, as well as on other issues affecting the interests of the bank's shareholders. At the same time, independent directors head the audit committee and the risk committee, which are established by the board of directors. To avoid conflicts of interest, one independent director cannot head these committees simultaneously, the instruction notes. Currently, not all Belarusian banks have independent directors. Meanwhile, their presence on the board of directors is a global practice. In accordance with the instruction, "corporate governance of a bank is aimed at implementing the goals and development strategy of the bank, including ensuring its financial reliability and ability for long-term existence as a profitable financial organisation."

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