Robert Maddox Quoted in Bank Director on 2024 Governance Best Practices Survey Findings

Bradley partner Robert Maddox was quoted in Bank Director on the 2024 Governance Best Practices Survey findings.

Bank Director’s 2024 Governance Best Practices Survey, sponsored by the firm, examines board responsibilities, risk oversight, composition, engagement, and governance practices. The survey reported that almost one-fifth of responding directors and CEOs said a single individual directly or indirectly dominates their board’s deliberations.

But Maddox says boards overly influenced by one individual can’t act in the best interests of the bank and its owners.

“They’re not exercising independent control,” he said. The outsized influence of a dominant personality “means the other directors are not independently asserting themselves.”

Training focused on the board’s role could help directors address this potential problem without being adversarial, Maddox explained, “because you’re not discussing the person; you’re discussing the broader responsibilities of the board.”

The full article, “2024 Governance Best Practices Survey: Exercising Independence,” was published by Bank Director on July 29, 2024.