Policies and practices of corporate governance in the Brazilian stock market

Abstract

The article aims to analyze relevant dimension of the Brazilian stock market that either facilitate or hinder the implementation of policies and practices of corporate governance. In so doing, four groups of stakeholders are taken into account - the company directors, the portfolio managers, the minoritary shareholders, the Animec, Apimec, IBGC and Bovespa executives - and four dimensions of corporate governance are evaluated: how the strategic decision system - SDS (General Assembly of Stockholders, Administration Board and other areas); the factors that are likely to limit the spaces and define the scope of influence of the minor stockholders in some of the departments that are part of the SDS; special practices of corporate governance; aspects related to the legislation, disclosure and information transparency. The results of the data collected through interviews and questionnaires administered to the four groups of stakeholders indicate that the companies are in different stages of the process of implementation of the so-called good practices of corporate governance. In addition, it is suggested that both the formal apparatus and the strategic behavior of the economic agents are critical to minimizing the informational asymmetry that invariably guides the relationships between different players.