Crackdowns and corporate governance

Corporate governance is back on the agenda in Russia. Along with squashing the oligarchs and bashing the regional governors, as part of Putin’s “law and order” drive, the president also wants to bring Russia’s companies to heel.

In July, the stock market watchdog, the Federal Securities Commission, announced that it would set up a corporate governance task force to investigate abuses. These bodies have been two a penny in the past, but by October the FSC had signed a three-year cooperation agreement with the tax police and similar agreements with the bankruptcy commission and the bailiff service.