ETCO Advisory Adviser Roberto Faldini talks about corporate governance, mainly in family businesses. Director of FIESP / CIESP, Faldini is a member of the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance and of the Family Business Center (IBCG) - and of the Ampliar network of Fundação Dom Cabral.

What are the fundamental steps for an efficient transition without major impacts during the process of transforming a family business into a public company?

This question leads us to a reflection on the definition of what is considered a family business. In Brazil or abroad, there are family companies with shareholding control of one or more families, which can be either privately held or publicly traded, with their shares generally traded on the stock exchanges. The great challenge for a company that aims to grow sustainably is the degree to which it is managed in a professional and ethical manner. Thus, the fundamental step towards an efficient transition is the ability to transform an administration that does not yet share the principles of good corporate governance, into a management - even if it is family control, open or closed - where transparency, equity, transparency and transparency prevail. accountability and corporate responsibility, which includes ethics in its broadest sense.

Is management that merges family members with executives recruited from outside a way of strengthening a company's corporate governance? Is this a current market reality?

The management of a company, regardless of whether it has family control or not, must be managed in a professional and ethical manner. In other words, in the case of a family-owned company, we should not necessarily exclude or include any manager because of whether or not he or she is a member of the family. The most relevant thing is to choose, and indicate, for business management, administrators who are truly professional and ethical. As for the current market reality, I can say that, increasingly, business families are becoming aware of the need to overcome this challenge and, thus, seek to accelerate this process. Otherwise, they know that it is a matter of time to become part of the club of ex-entrepreneurs.

The professionalization of family businesses requires the establishment of internal policies and a code of ethics. Is it possible to take advantage of this device to disseminate the culture of competitive ethics and raise awareness of the benefits in relation to the use of regularized structures, which will differentiate them in the global business environment?

Undoubtedly, the establishment of transparent internal policies, which treat employees, shareholders and other interested parties fairly, and which are guided by a code of conduct that is followed by the entire organization, is one of the real ways to promote itself the professionalization of the company. This is also the fundamental and necessary step to spread the culture of competitive ethics and raise awareness about the benefits in relation to the use of regularized structures, which differentiate them in the global business environment.