Of late the role of corporate governance has been highlighted worldwide, particularly due to a proliferation of scandals and crises. Specific cases such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia Communications and Parmalat have shaken the corporate world. This research paper observes corporate governance at a firm level in post-transitional economies. It analyses governance in some of the most liquid Czech and Croatian companies primarily focusing on quality within the firms' internal places of control. Areas such as Board practices, conflict of interest, shareholders rights, transparency and disclosure are paid particular attention. The main methodological instrument is a Corporate governance index, developed using OECD recommendations on the construction of composite indicators, which allows a comparison of best practices implementation.