The Latin American Companies Circle is a group of 19 companies from across the subcontinent, sponsored by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Global Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF) and supported by the OECD. The group’s report on Board Evaluation Practices, released in October 2012, represents
a follow up to a 2010 OECD Latin American Roundtable report “Achieving Effective Boards – A comparative study of the legal framework and board practices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Peru,” which found that board evaluations and especially their disclosure was a rare occurrence in the region.

The main findings of the Companies Circle 2012 report are:

1. Board evaluations have been increasingly recognized in the region as a useful tool to improve the performance of the Board.
2. Trust in the credibility and confidentiality of the evaluation process is a key factor for its success.
3. In the path to build an effective Board, evaluations require the commitment of directors to undergo a thorough review to identify the strengths and areas for improvement.
4. The main results of the evaluation should be inputs to an action plan, followed up by the Board.

The report can be downloaded here.