Question 4

Jenny Henry is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a recently listed company, Mercks Ltd, which operates a chain of retail outlets in Australia and New Zealand.

The company retails pharmaceutical products and has grown very rapidly having since formation.

The board of directors have been made aware by the that's its corporate governance is perceived to be weak after a published report by the company's internal auditors detailing the following identified weakness:

1. Four of the executive director's salary are based on a fixed performance-based remuneration.
2. A majority shareholder is responsible for 70% of the company's supply chain.
3. There is no formulated diversity policy for members of the board, senior executives and employees.
4. There is no whistle-blower, anti-bribery and corruption policy.

Jenny wishes to help improve the company's corporate governance and legal compliance but is unclear about a number of issues.

Required:

Recommend to Jenny how the company should resolve the above-mentioned problems to ensure that the appropriate corporate governance policy and structures are implemented.