Fundamental Glossary / Management & Corporate Governance
Board of Directors
The body elected by shareholders to direct the company and oversee management.
Formula
It includes executive, non-executive, promoter, and independent directors. Committees of the board cover audit, nomination and remuneration, stakeholders, and risk.
What it means
The board hires the chief executive, oversees strategy and accounts, and is answerable to shareholders. In a promoter company the board's practical power varies with the promoter's stake and the independence of the other directors.
Committees do the detailed work. The audit committee is the one most relevant to the quality of the numbers.
How to read it
Look at skills, attendance, other directorships, and whether the same people chair both the company and the audit committee. Over-boarded directors spread their attention thin.
What to watch
A board that has never dissented in the minutes is not proof of harmony. It can be proof that dissent is not recorded. You will rarely see the minutes. Resignations and qualified audit reports are the public trace.
This note explains the term. It is not a research recommendation, a target price, or a comment on any security. Ratios and regulatory thresholds change; use the latest filing or circular for a live figure.