Take a look at the last page of the WSJ section A today: a list of six principles of corporate governance as recommended by  twelve corporate heavy hitters: Buffett, Immelt, Dimon, Larry Fink of Black Rock, etc.  Although I confess to not being quite sure why this group would buy a full page to extol good governance, their suggestions are not very controversial and all are commonly endorsed by governance attorneys, board advisers and indeed by the National Association of Corporate Directors:

Independent boards should meet regularly including without CEOs present; diverse boards are better; boards need a strong leader independent of management; there is no mandatory requirement to provide earnings guidance; alternate financial reporting should not obscure GAAP reporting; shareholders need “constructive engagement” with management and perhaps the board to permit them to vote properly (of course, access is articulated in terms of institutional investors).

In all events, it is hard to quarrel with the list, which really is a very basic list of some fundamental good governance practices.  It is a corporate analog to the suggestion that “everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten.”  More later?  We shall see.