Several experts from the Spanish not-for-profit sector participated in the event.
Pérez-Llorca held the event entitled “Not-for-profit foundations: Working towards sustainable good governance practices. Looking back on a decade of a transparency. The track record of Catalan foundations” at its Barcelona office. Javier Martín Cavanna, Director of the Commitment and Transparency Foundation; Pere A. Fàbregas, President of the Catalan Foundation Coordinating Committee; Antoni García Prat, Managing Director of the Josep Carreras Leukemia Foundation and José María de Paz Arias, Partner of Corporate Law at Pérez-Llorca all participated in the event, with Ana Ribó, Partner of Litigation and Arbitration at Pérez-Llorca, acting as moderator.
Javier Martín opened the event by presenting the X Report on The Transparency and Good Governance of Not-for-Profit Foundations and highlighting the importance of self-regulation and the participation of independent institutions in processes which aim to improve the transparency of not-for-profits.
Pere A. Fàbregas and Antoni García then discussed the track record of foundations in Catalonia. Fàbregas pointed out the importance of maintaining the independence of foundations as a fundamental part of the process of achieving sustainable good governance practices. He also stressed the need for a system based on flexibility rather than relying on a sole solution, taking into account the diverse nature of the not-for-profit sector.
García shared the perspective of the Josep Carreras Foundation, highlighting the importance of the legitimacy of a foundation for its beneficiaries and donors. García also explained how the sector has developed an internal culture of continuous improvement over the past few years. For this reason, he claimed that foundations are on the verge of complying with transparency obligations.
Finally, José María de Paz’s presentation focused on good governance practices in corporate foundations. He reiterated that their ability to establish credibility is essential in order to be chosen by companies to implement corporate social responsibility plans. In the same way he noted that increased diversity and turnover on governing boards, together with the clarification of selection criteria for projects and the evaluation of the results of these projects, are very useful ways to boost credibility.