공익법인 등의 지배구조 개선방안

A series of new report on misbehavior in non-profit sector urged government to enforce regulation on so-called public charities corporations and foundations. Government announced measures to reinforce accounting standard, expand disclosure obligation regarding financial documents and establish new authority to monitor and control non-profit sector. This article argues that those policy measures would not be as effective as government expects and the development in corporate governance of each charities and foundations is the only way to recover pulic trust. Improving corporate governance in non-profit sector aims to help each entity achieve its mission and value which are engraved in the article of information. In Korea, such legislation as “Act on Public Corporation”, “Private School Act”, “Social Welfare Act” and “ Public Health and Medical Services Act” regulate the establishment and the management of relevant non-profit foundation/corporation. This article analyses the provisions on the duties and the responsibilities of directors of each non-profit corporation, the appointment of board members and auditors, the convention of board meetings in each legislation. With relatively well -organized corporate governance structure, Korean legislation on public corporations seems to lack provisions on private enforcement with respect to the misconduct of its directors and officers. This article suggests that legislative measures are taken urgently to expand plaintiffs’ standing in derivative suit to activate private enforcement in non-profit sector as well as government regulation.