Governance roles and responsibilities

Abstract

Bank foundations’ governance structure is established by law, focused on participants, roles, and responsibilities. The law provides for separate collective bodies for direction, administration, and control and establishes a clear distinction regarding which bodies carry out which functions. Such functional separation creates a dialectic based on the distinction of roles, tasks, and responsibilities. The basic structure of governance within bank foundations identifies the Board of Trustees as the body in charge of multiannual strategic planning. Its duty is to determine long-term plans, priorities, and objectives of the foundation for both asset management and grant-making activity. The Board of Directors is the administrative body, with the task of translating the multiannual strategic plans set by the Board of Trustees into short-term programs and to communicate them to management for implementation. The basic governance provides for a control body that has the task of monitoring the proper functioning of the foundation. The importance of good governance in bank foundations is emphasized by the guidelines drawn up by the Charter of the Foundations, a voluntary but binding code of conduct common to all foundations.