Maria Helena Santana, Board member of Itaú Unibanco - doing the right thing: transparency, board culture and harnessing the market

<p>Maria Helena Santana has enjoyed a long and storied career in the Brazilian capital markets. She was deeply involved in the development of the higher-governance Novo Mercado in the early 2000s, seeking a market solution to the lack of confidence in Brazilian equities at the time. </p><p>She subsequently led the CVM during the global financial crisis - despite which, the CVM managed to pass a number of key shareholder rights and transparency reforms, some of which Maria Helena now believes went too far. </p><p>For the last decade, Maria Helena has served on the boards of some of Brazil&#39;s most high profile companies, including Itaú Unibanco, CINT, Oi, Totvs, GPA and XP. As a practitioner of governance she shares what she looks for in a board, how board culture has evolved in Brazil, and compares her experience of controlled and dispersed ownership structures and their different challenges. </p><p>We take the opportunity to learn from her vast experience, share war stories - and return to the recurring themes of the importance of values, culture and long term owner orientation.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>