The committee, set up by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its first meeting here on Friday also decided to set up three sub-groups to focus on each of the constituents of corporate governance, shareholders, board of directors and the management.

The group sought to first identify and define the rights, roles, responsibilities and accountability of these constituents before determining the lacunae in the present regulations and developing instrumentalities to achieve the desired levels of governance.

It agreed that the objective of corporate governance would be the `enhancement of long-term shareholder value while at the same time protecting the interests of other stakeholders'.

In a statement, Sebi chairman D R Mehta said `It is imperative forcompanies to maximise shareholder value and wealth'. While some companies had voluntarily established a code of governance, there were many others who were not paying adequate attention to the needs of shareholders, he said.