FEE further recommends that the board should disclose its reasons for considering a non executive (or supervisory) director to be independent.

Any information disclosed to one shareholder should also be equally available to all shareholders (FEE, 2003a).

Some guidance, such as the report of FEE, also recommends disclosure of positions held in public or not for profit organizations.

Among others, such disclosure requirements, can be found in the positions of the FEE and the Winter Group Report, the Dey Report, the Indian Code, the Malaysian Code, the King II Report, the National Association of Pension Funds in the United Kingdom.

If the Europeans continue to look inward, allowing accountants to dominate discussions of Europe s future, they will miss a historic opportunity one that will directly affect Europe s security.

FEE (2003a), for example, recommends that a principles based approach used for assessing the independence of external auditors (see section H below) can also be usefully applied to the assessment of independence among non executive (supervisory) directors.

While it may be advisable for the preparatory work of certain key board functions to be assigned to separate committees, there is an international consensus that the full board holds collective and final responsibility (FEE, 2003a).

Second, complaisant accountants optimistic assumptions about returns on pension reserves, together with large firms greater risk bearing capacity, brightened the financial picture that companies could report to investors.

Even within economies where a combined role is still common, the accepted view is that measures are called for to balance the power at the head of the corporation such that no single individual has unfettered control of the company (FEE, 2003a).

Examples of the former approach are found in the recommendations of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants and the listing requirements in India and Switzerland, which provide for corporate governance disclosures to appear in a separate section of the annual report and in a prescribed format.

A crucial general principle in this respect is the principle on self interest threat a self interest threat occurs when a director could benefit from a financial or other interest in the enterprise as a result of unethical behavior or lack of independence (FEE, 2003b).