CHAPTER 9

An Interview with Claudio X Gonzalez

Don Claudio—as he is known—is a good example of a director who has become a very central independent director among large Mexican firms. His views are complementary to Jaime Serra’s in that he is well known as an “owner.” Jaime is known as a “professional outsider.”

Don Claudio is currently the chairman of Kimberly Clark Mexico and serves on the boards of: Fondo Mexico, Grupo Alfa, Grupo Carso, Grupo Mexico, Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Baker Institute for Public Policy. He is also an advisor to Capital Group and an emeritus director at GE.

He holds a chemical engineering degree from Stanford and is a graduate from the Mexican Institute for Business Administration. He has represented the interests of Mexican businesses as president of the Consejo Mexicano de Negocios, Consejo Coordinador Empresarial—equivalent to US Business Roundtable—and the Centro de Estudios Económicos del Sector Privado—a think tank funded by the private sector.

• •What are the main obstacles for improving corporate governance in Mexico?

1. a.There is a large amount of family ownership that makes this more difficult. Family ownership will be dispersed when the country is able to achieve high sustained economic growth.
2. b.Unwillingness to be open; many firms are still “secretive.” They do not want to be listed because this would mean opening up to scrutiny.
3. c.Lack of diversity; Mexico is still homogeneous regarding board composition. This is partially due to the unavailability of a diverse talent pool of candidates.

• •How can corporate governance be improved?

1. a.By having more listed firms; we can achieve this by growing more aggressively. If a firm needs capital to grow it will be more likely to go public and improve governance standards in order to more diligently respond to stakeholder interests.
2. b.Raising the awareness of the corporate governance topic. More research is needed.

• •Can you share one or two of your most difficult moments as a director?

As a GE director during the 2008 financial crisis. GE Capital was the sixth largest financial institution in the United States and it was very close to bankruptcy because the markets for short-term capital were not going to open on a Monday and the firm needed to refinance its debt holdings. The issue was solved through a bridge loan from the New York Federal Reserve at the last minute, but these were tough times for those of us ­serving on the Board and Audit Committees.