BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. The Central Bank
of Azerbaijan (CBA) plans to incorporate some of its existing
recommendations on corporate governance in the banking sector into
binding regulatory requirements, with a draft proposal expected to
be presented to banks for discussion in the near future, Trend's correspondent reports
from the event.


CBA Deputy Chairman and Board Member Togrul Aliyev announced the
plans on Tuesday at the Sustainable Business, Corporate Governance,
Risk and Compliance (GRC) Conference in Baku.


According to Aliyev, information and cybersecurity risks have
become major risk areas across the financial sector. Effective
management of these risks is particularly important for ensuring
the sector's resilience.


He noted that the CBA regularly updates its corporate governance
standards. In 2024, the regulator adopted a set of recommendations
on improving corporate governance in the banking sector.


"These recommendations guide the banking sector in adapting to
new developments and best practices in corporate governance and
preparing for more advanced regulation. They also indicate the
direction in which the Central Bank's corporate governance
requirements may evolve in the future," he said.


The deputy chairman emphasized that the CBA is working to
incorporate provisions from these recommendations into the
regulatory framework to help bring corporate governance in the
banking sector to the next level.







"Internal discussions on this matter are already underway. We
intend to share the relevant draft with the banking sector in the
near future. Feedback from banking professionals is very important
to us," Aliyev said.


He noted that sustainable corporate governance cannot be ensured
through regulatory requirements alone. Support from organizational
leaders, the professionalism of risk management and compliance
functions, and employees' knowledge and skills also play an
important role.


According to Aliyev, professional certification and development
are important issues for both financial institutions and regulatory
authorities.


He added that exchanging experience and discussing international
best practices are essential to the development of governance, risk
and compliance (GRC). Aliyev expressed hope that the conference
would contribute to further improving corporate governance, risk
management and compliance practices in Azerbaijan.