The ATM Industry Association has published a Corporate Governance Manual for the ATM Industry. It contains international recommendations for business ethics and accountability.

 This Corporate Governance (CG) Manual summarizes the essential principles of corporate ethics and accountability with special reference to the ATM industry. Its purpose is to make it easier for companies and organizations to implement systems designed to protect the name and integrity of both their company and the industry it serves, while at the same time showing responsibility to their wider society and environmental context.

 The manual defines and outlines seven characteristics of good corporate governance, namely, discipline; transparency; independence; accountability; responsibility; fairness; and social responsibility.  It sets out the elements of a Corporate Code of Conduct, providing a flow-chart of the steps needed to implement a CG management system.

 A former President of the World Bank, Jim Wolfensohn, has said that “The proper governance of companies will become as crucial to the world economy as the proper governing of countries.”

 Contemporary business scandals, like those at Enron, Worldcom and Parmalat, have badly affected confidence in the private sector and reinforce the truth of Wolfensohn’s statement.

 ATMIA has appointed a Corporate Governance (CG) committee to oversee its own corporate governance and has started to develop a training course as part of the association’s strategic initiative to reinforce CG throughout the industry.