Directors Duties And Shareholder Litigation In The Wake Of The Financial Crisis

ÔThis book takes us back to the financial crisis and asks: should the directors of the financial institutions that caused the crisis be held responsible to their investors? LoughreyÕs and her contributorsÕ analysis of that question and the suggestions to implement their proposals are insightful and timely. This is a must-read book for those of us who are still trying to determine how to avoid the next financial crisis.Õ Ð Randall Thomas, Vanderbilt Law School, US The financial crisis revealed failings at board level at many financial institutions. But despite calls for bank boards to be held to account, there has been a remarkable paucity of litigation against bank directors for breach of their duties. This book assesses whether the law relating to directorsÕ duties and shareholder litigation has contributed to this, taking into account the changes to both that were introduced by the Companies Act 2006. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book examines the directorÕs duty of care and skill, the s.172 duty, reporting obligations under s.417 of the Companies Act 2006, and shareholder litigation including the derivative action and just and equitable winding up. It concludes that neither the common law nor the statutory duties and derivative action under the Companies Act 2006 function effectively to hold directors to account and analyses why this is so. This detailed book will appeal to academics in company law and corporate governance as well as commercial law practitioners particularly those who specialize in company litigation.

The explosion of the global financial crisis in 2007–08 reignited the urgency to reflect on the origins and causes of financial collapses. As the events in the above period triggered an economic meltdown that is still ongoing, comparisons with the Great Crash of 1929 started to abound. In particular, the externalities that a broad spectrum of societal groups had to bear as a consequence of various banking failures highlighted the necessity of a more inclusive and balanced regulation of firms whose activities impact on a wide range of stakeholders. The book is centred on the proposal of a paradigm, the “enlightened sovereign control”, that provides a theoretical, institutional and substantive framework as a response to the legal issues analysed in the book. These stem primarily from the analysis of two sequences of events (the 2001–03 wave of “accounting frauds” and the 2007–08 global crisis) which represent the background upon which modern financial scandals are explained. This is done by highlighting a number of common denominators emerging from the case studies (Enron and Parmalat, Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers) which all led to financial instability and scandals and illustrated the legal issues identified in the book. The research is grounded on the initial recognition of theoretical themes in the field of corporate and financial law, which eventually link with the more practical events examined. Through this multifaceted approach, the book contends that the occurrence of financial crises during the last decade is essentially rooted in two main problems: a corporate governance one, represented by the lack of effective control systems within large public firms; and a corporate finance one identified with the excesses of financial innovation and related abuses of capital market finance. Research conducted in this book ultimately seeks to contribute to current debates in the areas of corporate and financial law, through the proposals of the “enlightened sovereign control” paradigm.

This book studies the funding problems with shareholder litigation through a functionally comparative way. In fact, funding problems with shareholder lawsuits may largely discourage potential shareholder litigants who bear high financial risk in pursuing such a claim, but on the other hand they may not have much to gain. Considering the lack of incentives for potential shareholder claimants, effective funding techniques should be in place to make shareholder actions function as a corporate governance tool and discipline corporate management. The book analyzes, among others, the practice of funding shareholder litigation in the Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and Israel, and covers all of the typical approaches being used in financing shareholder litigation in the current world. For instance, Israel and Canada (Quebec and Ontario) are probably unique in having a public funding mechanism for derivative actions and class actions, while Australia is the country where third party litigation funding is originated and is growing rapidly. Based on this comparative research, the last part of this book discusses how to fund shareholder litigation in China in context of its social and legal background and what kind of problems need to be solved if certain funding techniques are used.

The Enlightened Shareholder Value principle and Corporate Social Responsibility are areas of increasing academic and research interest. However, discussions on the ESV principle in relation to CSR are very limited. This book provides a critical analysis of the impact of the concept of ESV, embedded in the Companies Act 2006, on CSR and explores the scope for reform. Along with analysing existing empirical research, it presents the findings of an empirical study conducted to determine whether the concept of ESV is capable of promoting or assisting CSR. The book also examines whether implementing an ESV approach has had any impact on the CSR practices of multinational corporations that originate in the UK and operate in developing nations, as in order to assess whether the ESV principle links to CSR both its domestic and international impact need to be considered. This analysis was undertaken through the lens of a case study on the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh, with some focus on the Rana Plaza factory disaster. This study also assists in demonstrating the changes that need to be made to improve the current situation. Lastly, the book addresses the need for reform in the area and provides possible suggestions for reform. This interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to students and scholars of corporate law, corporate governance and business studies in general as well as policymakers, NGOs and government departments in many countries around the world working in the fields of CSR, sustainability and global supply chains.

China�s recent economic transformation and integration into the world economy has coincided with increasing pressure for corporate law reform to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) integral to business and management strategy in China. This time

Drawing on the work of leading researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines, including economic geography, economics, economic history, finance, law, and public policy, this edited collection provides a comprehensive assessment of stranded assets and the environment, covering the fundamental issues and debates, including climate change and societal responses to environmental change, as well as its origins and theoretical basis. The volume provides much needed clarity as the discourse on stranded assets gathers further momentum. In addition to drawing on scholarly contributions, there are chapters from practitioners and analysts to provide a range of critical perspectives. While chapters have been written as important standalone contributions, the book is intended to systematically take the reader through the key dimensions of stranded assets as a topic of research inquiry and practice. The work adopts a broad based social science perspective for setting out what stranded assets are, why they are relevant, and how they might inform the decision-making of firms, investors, policymakers, and regulators. The topic of stranded assets is inherently multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and multi-jurisdictional and the volume reflects this diversity. This book will be of great relevance to scholars, practitioners and policymakers with an interest in include economics, business and development studies, climate policy and environmental studies in general.

Company Law brings clarity and sophisticated analysis to the ever-changing landscape of company law. Hannigan captures the dynamism of the subject, places the material in context, highlights its relevance and topicality, and guides students through all the major areas studied at undergraduate level. The book is divided into five distinct sections covering corporate structure (including legal personality and constitutional issues), corporate governance (including directors' duties and liabilities), shareholders' rights and remedies (including powers of decision-making and shareholder engagement), corporate finance (including share and loan capital), and corporate rescue and restructuring (including liabilities arising on insolvency). The author's accessible writing style and comprehensive approach to the subject makes this an idea textbook for students of company law.

This book is the first comprehensive study of the statutory derivative action in Australia, using the Australian model as a reference point and comparing it with the UK, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and USA counterparts. The book includes an empirical study covering over a twenty-year period from the date the statutory framework came into operation, coupled with extensive case law analysis and comparisons with other jurisdictions. It informs the world about the uniqueness of Australia’s statutory derivative action, and what other countries can learn from it as shareholder protection and promotion of good corporate governance. While some countries have statutory derivative action, there are still countries that do not have the statutory framework that are considering introducing it into their corporate law. This book provides insights and suggestions for lawmakers, litigation practitioners and researchers worldwide in reforming their existing model.