'Judging by the academic post-mortems, the 2008 economic collapse was triggered by a financial sector gone wild. But the collapse was also made possible by defects in corporate governance. At last, this volume offers a serious investigation into the role corporate governance played in getting the world into that mess and can play in getting it out. Offering diverse perspectives from some of the world's preeminent corporate scholars, the volume deserves a place on the desk of anyone seeking to understand the collapse and how to avoid the next one.' Kent Greenfield, Boston College Law School, US 'This excellent collection from a highly distinguished group of scholars focuses on three intertwined and overlapping "aftermaths", the pressing concerns of corporate governance reform arising out of the financial crisis since 2008, the state of corporate governance reform since the spectacular failures of Enron, Worldcom and others, and, finally, the prospects of what since the early 1980s has been a global debate over the convergence and divergence of corporate law debates. Drawing on numerous country studies, this book greatly advances our understanding of where corporate governance reform is headed.' Peer Zumbansen, York University, Canada 'This volume addresses a range of important issues that were relevant before the global financial crisis and have, in many ways, become more so since the crisis. The book contains the work of a number of renowned commentators who have given the issues considered in the book much thought over an appreciable period of time. This volume is one that all scholars interested in corporate governance, no matter what their academic discipline is, would be interested in reading. I am eagerly awaiting its publication.' Andrew Keay, University of Leeds, UK 'The governance needle now swings to and fro like a windscreen wiper, no longer fast upon the goal of shareholder primacy and wealth maximization. "The aim of this volume is to introduce the new ideas animating. . . governance in the post-financial crisis world". This book does a superb job of accomplishing that objective. Probing discussions of sustainability, stakeholder models, globalization, ethical behavior, soft law, independent directors, and family capitalism coalesce around the antipode toward which the windscreen wiper increasingly swings, and not which "may be" but will be "the shape of things to come".' Douglas M. Branson, University of Pittsburgh, US The financial crisis of 200809 raises questions about the assumptions that underpin corporate governance. Shareholder value and private ordering may not in fact be the best means of promoting efficiency and corporate responsibility and the mechanisms used to ensure management accountability may not be effective. In this fascinating study, experts from around the world draw on the experience of the financial crisis to explore topical issues ranging from shareholder primacy and the corporate objective to the stakeholder principle, business ethics, and globalization of corporate governance principles. The chapters are provocative, acknowledging that our understanding of fundamental questions of corporate governance is still developing and demonstrating that the corporate governance debate is far from over. This informative book will appeal to researchers in corporate governance and corporate law including graduate students, policymakers, lawyers, accountants, and management consultants. Chambers of commerce and trade associations will also find much to interest them in this book.

The first decade of the new millennium was bookended by two major economic crises. The bursting of the dotcom bubble and the extended bear market of 2000 to 2002 prompted Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was directed at core aspects of corporate governance. At the end of the decade came the bursting of the housing bubble, followed by a severe credit crunch, and the worst economic downturn in decades. In response, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, which changed vast swathes of financial regulation. Among these changes were a number of significant corporate governance reforms. Corporate Governance after the Financial Crisis asks two questions about these changes. First, are they a good idea that will improve corporate governance? Second, what do they tell us about the relative merits of the federal government and the states as sources of corporate governance regulation? Traditionally, corporate law was the province of the states. Today, however, the federal government is increasingly engaged in corporate governance regulation. The changes examined in this work provide a series of case studies in which to explore the question of whether federalization will lead to better outcomes. The author analyzes these changes in the context of corporate governance, executive compensation, corporate fraud and disclosure, shareholder activism, corporate democracy, and declining US capital market competitiveness.

The corporate objective, namely, in whose interests a company should be run, is the most important theoretical and practical issue confronting us today, as this core objective animates or should animate every decision a company makes. Despite decades of debate, however, there is no consensus regarding what the corporate objective is or ought to be, but clarity on this issue is necessary in order to explain and guide corporate behaviour, as different objectives could lead to different analyses and solutions to the same corporate governance problem. In addition to the study on the corporate objective in Anglo-American jurisdictions, the discussion of this topic in the context of China is also very important on the grounds that China has become the second largest economy in the world and is playing an increasingly significant role in global affairs. Though a socialist state, China has also been relying heavily on the corporate vehicle as the most important business organisational form to ensure its rapid economic development since its market reforms in 1978. Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means’s observation made over eight decades ago that large public companies dominate the world remains true today, not only in the West but also in China. The regulation and governance of such companies will have a material impact on the further development of the Chinese economy, which could in turn directly affect the world economy. Company law and corporate governance therefore receive much attention and have become a vital issue in China. Although the current focus is primarily on corporate performance, the fundamental question at the heart of corporate governance, namely the corporate objective, is still unresolved. Contrary to the widely held belief that the corporate objective should be maximising shareholder wealth, this book seeks to demonstrate that the shareholder wealth maximisation approach is both descriptively inaccurate and normatively unsuitable. As an antithesis to it, stakeholder theory generally develops to be a more suitable substitute. Justifications and responses to its main criticisms are offered from descriptive, normative and instrumental aspects, whilst new techniques of balancing competing interests and more workable guidance for directors’ behaviour are brought forward as essential modifications. Along with the unique characteristics of socialist states, the stakeholder model is expected to find solid ground in China and guide the future development of corporate governance. This book will be important and useful to researchers and students of corporate law, corporate governance, business and management studies.

This book highlights the multi-faceted nature of corporate social responsibility and the need for greater engagement across academia to help develop the mechanisms needed to encourage socially responsible approaches across the board. The product of a cross-disciplinary collaboration of authors from various academic disciplines, the book reflects the emergent diversity of academics now studying corporate social responsibility (CSR). Accordingly, it includes contributions from economists to social anthropologists, from accountants to philosophers, and from clinical psychologists to social geographers. Together they provide new insights into aspects that challenge, hinder and enable CSR practitioners and corporations with regard to their financial impact and accountability, governance and supply chains. The book is divided into four parts focusing on the practical, sociological, theoretical and environmental aspects of corporate social responsibility.

Legislation and case law following the relatively recent corporate scandals have increased scrutiny on the ethics and integrity of individuals, and the culture they create, at the highest levels within the corporate structure. The corporate General Counsel (GC) is a key member of that group. This enhanced attention increases the already substantial tensions facing the GC, who must navigate the demands and interests of various corporate stakeholders-including the board of directors, officers (particularly the CEO), stockholders, and employees-while also serving the best interests of the client, which is-and should only be-the corporation itself. In light of these heightened expectations on ethics, integrity, and other liability concerns, Indispensable Counsel: The Chief Legal Officer in the New Reality examines the key role of the independent, yet business-oriented, chief legal officer. Indispensable Counsel provides readers with the foundations of corporate representation followed by practical guidelines on how the multiple roles of GC are, or should be, resolved, with best practices as the goal. Former Supreme Court Justice of Delaware E. Norman Veasey and coauthor Christine T. Di Guglielmo bring their stature and wealth of experience in the field to bear in this must-have resource for anyone interested in the role of corporate counsel.

This title explains the causes of the financial crisis and the economic reforms that were created subsequently through a Foucauldian philosophical lens. The author sets out the approaches established by Foucault – namely governmentality, biopolitics and disciplinary mechanisms – explaining how these influenced the shift of production from a local to a global level, alongside a shift towards financialisation. Glenn applies Foucauldian principles to aid understanding of the self-corrective mechanisms applied to the financial system, and the interpellative processes that led to the emergence of a new mode of subjectification. Concurrently, this title examines the retreat of the state from the financial sphere. This shift, the author posits, did not mean the complete absence of governance; rather governance became more concerned with ensuring that financial behaviour was contained within certain limits.

The Routledge Companion to Banking Regulation and Reform provides a prestigious cutting edge international reference work offering students, researchers and policy makers a comprehensive guide to the paradigm shift in banking studies since the historic financial crisis in 2007. The transformation in banking over the last two decades has not been authoritatively and critically analysed by the mainstream academic literature. This unique collection brings together a multi-disciplinary group of leading authorities in the field to analyse and investigate post-crisis regulation and reform. Representing the wide spectrum of non-mainstream economics and finance, topics range widely from financial innovation to misconduct in banking, varieties of Eurozone banking to reforming dysfunctional global banking as well as topical issues such as off-shore financial centres, Libor fixing, corporate governance and the Dodd-Frank Act. Bringing together an authoritative range of international experts and perspectives, this invaluable body of heterodox research work provides a comprehensive compendium for researchers and academics of banking and finance as well as regulators and policy makers concerned with the global impact of financial institutions.

Goes beyond the call for more humanistic management in the aftermath of a series of corporate scandals and the recent financial crisis, and offers advice on how we can build more humanistic organizations with the help of integrity. The authors shed light on leadership, governance and further implementation issues.

The chapters in this book reflect on people's relationships with past financial crises - from public opinion to business leaders and policy makers. In connection with financial crises, Remembering and Learning from Financial Crises addresses three fundamental questions: first, are financial crises remembered, and if so how? Second, have lessons been drawn from past financial crises? And third, have past experiences been used in order to make practical decisions when confronted with a new crisis? These questions are of course related, yet they have been approached from different historical perspectives, using methodologies borrowed from different academic disciplines. One of the objectives of this book is to explore how these approaches can complement each other in order to better understand the relationships between remembering and learning from financial crises and how the past is used by financial institutions. It thus recognises financial crisis as a recurring phenomenon and addresses the impact that this has in a range of public and policy contexts.