There’s an information gap between Eastern Europe and the rest of the world. After much modification of legislation and listing rules and companies rising to meet the demands of foreign investors, the East is a lot more developed in terms of corporate governance than the West knows. ‘The information isn’t trickling down from east to west,’ says Geoffrey Mazullo.
Mazullo should know better than anyone. As director of the Partners for Financial Stability Program at the East-West Management Institute in Budapest, he worked with national stock exchanges across Central and Eastern Europe to organize a series of nine investor relations seminars since June 2001 with a total of more than 420 participants. The goal, says Mazullo, was ‘to strengthen regional cooperation on financial sector issues and promote best practice and international standards.’ The seminars demonstrated the exchanges’ desire to help their listed companies with IR. They also helped resolve the information gap. ‘The gap has narrowed considerably, and will continue to narrow until the next wave of countries joins the European Union,’ Mazullo says.
Mazullo will be one of the speakers at the first Investor Relations Magazine Central & Eastern Europe Conference & Awards in Budapest, September 17-18. Over 25 speakers will address issues such as market reform and regulation, the impact of EU enlargement, corporate governance, disclosure and foreign investment. Other noteworthy speakers are Hungary’s minister of finance, Csaba László, Maurice Guyader from the EC’s directorate-general for EU enlargement, and Mehran Nakhjavani, emerging markets strategist at UBS Global Asset Management.
Anthony Spiro, director of Hellex Partners, will be leading a session on the essentials of IR. ‘Capital markets here have developed extremely rapidly over the last decade,’ he comments. ‘Many companies here used to rely solely on a local investor base. Now, as EU membership comes closer, they are increasingly aware of the need to internationalize their investor base.’
One of the issues Spiro will address is accounting standards. ‘Local reporting standards may be rigorous, but international investors need uniform accounting standards, whether US Gaap or international accounting standards.’ He adds that while there are many quality companies in the region, ‘The world is not going to beat a path to their door; they have to make themselves attractive to international investors.’ That means adopting cutting edge IR techniques, and recognizing that when they go international, ‘they become small fish in a very big pond.’
Following the first day of the conference on September 17, those companies in the region with the best IR will be honored at the first Investor Relations Magazine Central & Eastern Europe Awards. A survey of fund managers and analysts across Europe has identified the winners in categories such as best investor relations officer, annual report, IR web site and corporate governance. In the prestigious setting of the Budapest History Museum, the awards gala itself is bound to make history.
Upcoming Investor Relations magazine events
The 2nd Annual Aira Conference & Awards in association with Investor Relations magazine
September 25-26, The Westin, Sydney
The Amsterdam Conference & Eurozone Awards
October 14, Okura Hotel, Amsterdam
The Asian Investor Relations Summit & Awards
November 19, Hong Kong
Click here for further details of the programs. If you would like to get involved, e-mail [email protected]
